Plastic pollution
IKEA to Phase Out Single-Use Plastics by 2020
Swedish furniture giant IKEA announced a slew of commitments to encourage sustainable living, including a pledge to remove all single-use plastics from its product range globally and from its restaurants by 2020. The plastics ban will apply to its 363…
Plastic Killed Most Sperm Whales Found Dead in Greek Waters Since 2001
More than a third of the sperm whales found dead in the eastern Mediterranean since 2011 were killed by plastic debris, researchers from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Athens found. Necropsies on nine of the 24 dead whales found…
New Labelling Helps UK Shoppers Avoid Plastic Packaging
A new plastic-free “trust mark” is being introduced today, allowing shoppers to see at a glance whether products use plastic in their packaging. The label will be prominently displayed on food and drink products, making it easier for consumers to…
Scientists Develop ‘Infinitely’ Recyclable Plastics Replacement
One of the factors driving the plastic pollution crisis is that very little of it gets reused effectively—as of 2015, only 9 percent of all plastics ever made had been recycled, a 2017 Science Advances study found. This is because,…
More Than 40 Companies Sign Onto Historic UK Plastics Pact
In a historic move, more than 40 UK companies have signed up to fight plastic pollution as part of the UK Plastics Pact, The Independent reported Wednesday. The pact, which officially launches today, is a groundbreaking alliance of companies, non-governmental…
Food and Drink Giants Unite in Promise to Wage War on Plastic Waste
The government may have promised to wipe out avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042, but today large swathes of the UK’s food and drink sector went a leap further, in a bid to convince the British public they…
Scientists Accidentally Create Mutant Enzyme That Eats Plastic Bottles
Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles. The new research was…