The REDUCE Act would incentivize companies to reduce the amount of new plastics they create by establishing a per-pound fee on virgin plastics for items like bottles, bags, packaging and takeaway cont...

Bitumen prices have risen by nearly half in two weeks, while Estonia’s Transport Administration is commissioning a study into replacing some of the material in asphalt with plastic waste, ERR reported. Mart Arusoo of the Transport Administration said using plastic could reduce the environmental f…

Just one load of laundry can release up to 18 million microplastic fibers, with many making their way into our ocean. Microplastic fibers are NSFW—Not Safe For Wash.

Researchers from Rice University have developed a new fast-heating method to recover approximately 90 percent of Antimony from plastic electronic waste. ​​Antimony is the element behind the flame-retardant capacity of plastic casing that is used in electronic devices to prevent the risk of electrical fires. In this new method, the team electronically heated the plastic waste generated from their lab briefly at high temperatures, which allowed antimony to evaporate and condense in the collection area.​ Plus, the plastic spent only 9.4 milliseconds between 392 and 932 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving little time for organic bromides to form toxic compounds. Antimony is rapidly depleting, as nearly 39 percent of global supplies are consumed in manufacturing flame-retardant plastics, most of which ultimately end up in landfills. Global flame-retardant production is projected to reach 82 million metric tons in 2030, alongside tens of millions of tons of annual electronic waste. This escalating demand poses a severe threat to future mineral reserves. Flash heating holds key ​Cutting off at the pass, U.S. researchers explored ways to recapture this important raw material that ends up in the heaps of e-waste after the end of life of the electronic devices. ​Traditional recovery methods use slow heating to...

Researchers from Rice University have developed a new fast-heating method to recover approximately 90 percent of Antimony from plastic electronic waste. ​​Antimony is the element behind the flame-retardant capacity of plastic casing that is used in electronic devices to prevent the risk of electrical fires. In this new method, the team electronically heated the plastic waste generated from their lab briefly at high temperatures, which allowed antimony to evaporate and condense in the collection area.​ Plus, the plastic spent only 9.4 milliseconds between 392 and 932 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving little time for organic bromides to form toxic compounds. Antimony is rapidly depleting, as nearly 39 percent of global supplies are consumed in manufacturing flame-retardant plastics, most of which ultimately end up in landfills. Global flame-retardant production is projected to reach 82 million metric tons in 2030, alongside tens of millions of tons of annual electronic waste. This escalating demand poses a severe threat to future mineral reserves. Flash heating holds key ​Cutting off at the pass, U.S. researchers explored ways to recapture this important raw material that ends up in the heaps of e-waste after the end of life of the electronic devices. ​Traditional recovery methods use slow heating to...

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When Plastic Becomes Public Infrastructure What if plastic waste could help cities stay cooler? Across Africa, innovative projects are exploring how discarded plastic can be transformed into useful ...

Plastic is everywhere..we are drowning in waste and it has huge health implications. It is not acceptable. The government has introduced the extended producer responsibility (EPR) under which almost all manufactures, importers and brand owners have 100 per cent collection target and as per records, the country has recycled 4-5 years of all the plastic waste it has produced. The revenue is equal to 4 Chandrayaan missions. So, what is happening..why then do we still see plastic waste? Let’s do a little deep dive into this EPR system and what is is adding up to, or not. I am Sunita Narain, this is my show. Please do like, do share and do subscribe. It gives me the courage to continue, knowing that I am able to make a difference. Let’s explore plastic and why the waste is everywhere, despite the EPR system and what then needs to be done India has recycled 17 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste since 2022, when the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime came into force, according to latest data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). If we estimate the value of this plastic recycling trade it is a whopping Rs 2500 crore (or...

AI-designed plastic-eating enzymes now break down PET in hours in the lab, yet the first industrial plant is on hold. A balanced look at what the evidence shows.

Rising plastic waste is placing Bangladesh’s rivers under growing pressure, threatening aquatic ecosystems, fisheries, biodiversity and river-dependent livelihoods amid gaps in waste management. Bangladesh’s rivers are increasingly being burdened by plastic waste. Every day large quantities of plastic bags, food packaging materials, bottles and other plastic garbage generated from urban areas, industrial zones and residential areas are entiring rivers through canals, drains, and waterways. The growing pollution is interrupting river environment while posing serious threats to water species, fish reproduction areas, biodiversity and public health. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh generates around 977,000 tonnes plastic waste yearly. nearly 70 percent of this worst remains outside proper waste management system. A significant portion of this unmanaged waste is dumped in open areas, burned, or eventually reaches rivers, canals, and other water bodies through various canals. Insufficient waste management systems, rapid urbanization, increasing use of single-use plastics and lack of infrastructure are worsening the plastic pollution crisis in the country’s rivers. Plastic use in Bangladesh has increased alongside changing lifestyle and urban growth. World Bank data shows that per person use in urban areas rose from around 3 kilogram in 2005 to 9 kilograms in 2020. The situation is more severe...

More plastic packaging was collected for recycling last year, but the rate remained below the 50% target, according to the Recycling Fund’s 2025 annual report, reported by mbl.is. The rate was 39%, up 35% from the previous year’s 27%. The fund recorded a loss of more than 136 million krónur in 20…

The average child born in the UK in the 1950s was toilet trained by the age of two years and four months. Five decades later, the average child wouldn’t reach that milestone until after their third birthday. Those statistics are more than just a curious reflection of changing parenting practices. They also shed light on the growing plastic waste crisis. Later toilet training means more used diapers, and since the diaper market also shifted from mostly cloth to mostly disposable over the same decades, that all adds up to a lot more diapers being tossed in the trash. Today, more than 300,000 diapers are thrown away every minute around the globe. In wealthy countries, the vast majority of disposable diapers and other absorbent hygiene products such as incontinence products and menstrual supplies wind up in a landfill or incinerator. In parts of the world that lack good waste collection systems, diapers are often dumped or burned, resulting in plastic pollution, contaminated water, and the risk of disease. Absorbent hygiene product waste amounts to somewhere between 160 and 200 million metric tons each year and makes up nearly one-tenth of municipal solid waste by weight globally, according to a new paper...

The approach could provide a new way to reuse difficult waste while also helping produce food in places where conventional supplies are limited. Potential applications range from disaster zones on Earth to human missions deep into space. The researchers presented their results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) during the "Undergraduate and Graduate Research in Biochemistry and Chemical Biology" symposium at McCormick Place. "Microbes are very clever. So, we are using their traits to solve the problems we created." — Lahiru Jayakody Turning Plastic Waste Into Food Plastic pollution and food insecurity are two major global challenges, and researchers at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale are exploring whether one problem could help address the other. Their goal is to use microorganisms to convert waste materials into food that people can safely eat. The research grew out of a NASA-led project focused on producing food in the resource-limited conditions of deep space exploration, where astronauts cannot depend on regular shipments from Earth. "We were trying to develop technologies for plastic upcycling to make more valuable products. We thought, why not focus on making food? Because plastic is carbon and food is carbon," explains Associate Professor Lahiru Jayakody...

I would like the Government to ban balloon releases due to the devastating impact, misery and suffering they can cause to marine life and other animals, including swallowing balloons, getting tangled ...

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel process that transforms polyethylene plastic waste into gasoline and diesel-like fuels using inexpensive aluminum-based molten salts. The method, which operates under relatively mild conditions (below 200 degrees Celsius), breaks down long plastic molecules into smaller hydrocarbons without requiring noble-metal catalysts, organic solvents, or external hydrogen. The process achieves a gasoline yield of approximately 60% and represents a significant advancement over traditional pyrolysis methods that typically require temperatures of 450-500 degrees Celsius. The research team, led by Sheng Dai and Liqi Qiu, utilized advanced analytical techniques including soft X-ray spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and neutron scattering to understand the chemical mechanisms involved. They discovered that aluminum-based catalytic sites create highly acidic conditions that split polyethylene chains into smaller fuel molecules. The technology has been patented and published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The researchers note that while the aluminum-based system is cost-effective and chemically active, it has a limitation: the material is hygroscopic (absorbs water), which can reduce stability. Future work will focus on improving salt stability through confinement methods using halogens or carbon-based materials. This innovation could contribute to U.S. energy security and industrial competitiveness by providing a new pathway for converting plastic waste into valuable transportation fuels. The research was supported by the DOE Office of Science and utilized several DOE user facilities, including the Spallation Neutron Source and the Advanced Light Source.

The plan starts in October 2027 for plastic bottles, metal cans, with Wales set to run separate rules on glass.