Plastic overshoot day report 2024
Plastic Overshoot Day marks the point when the amount of plastic waste generated exceeds the world’s capacity to manage it, resulting in environmental pollution. In 2024, the global Plastic Overshoot Day
Plastics
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British beaches 'littered with plastic'
The amount of plastic littering British beaches is at its highest level since records began, according to the Marine Conservation Society. Nearly 4,000 volunteers scoured Britain's beaches as part of the survey (Copyright T Fanshawe) The organisation's Beachwatch 2007 Report shows that plastic litter on beaches has increased by 126% since the annual survey began in 1994. MCS campaigners say the rise is threatening marine wildlife which mistakes the plastic litter for food or becomes entangled in the debris.
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News Snippets
>> Law and Justice, one of Kazakhstan's few independent newspapers, is to be closed by order of the Astana region court. The newspaper is charged with improper registration. The newspaper, however,
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Poly bags make comeback in Patuakhali markets
DESPITE a ban, poly bags have reappeared in the local markets in Patuakhali and these are being widely used by the shoppers as well as shopkeepers.
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Green plan eyes fewer disposables
Japan will urge people to carry their own chopsticks instead of using disposables and to shop with their own bags instead of using plastic ones in a bid to more than halve the garbage it produces.
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Saying NO to plastic!
Many villages in the districts of Mangalore and Udupi have taken the lead in minimising the use of plastic. An impressed Ronald Anil Fernandes reports.
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Migration of bisphenol A from polycarbonate baby bottles under real use conditions
Migration of the potential endocrine disrupter, bisphenol A (BPA), from 31 polycarbonate (PC) baby bottles into aqueous food simulants was studied under real repetitive use, using a sensitive and fully
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Policy considerations for establishing an environmentally sound regional material flow in East Asia
This article argues that waste management and recycling have become regional or international issues; they can no longer be considered only in a national context. The regionalization or internationalization of waste and recycling issues is caused in large part by the steady advance of economic integration, especially increasing trade and investment flows resulting from trade and investment liberalization.
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In Court
over plastic ban: A group of plastic bag manufacturers and recyclers in the US state of California has filed a lawsuit against the Oakland city authorities over a ban on plastic shopping bags.
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China closes plastic bags firm
The battle to clean up China's environment has led to the closure of the country's largest producer of plastic bags. The announcement comes after a state-led campaign discouraging the consumption of plastics was launched last month. The new regulations banned the use of ultra-thin bags (under 0.025 mm thick) and ordered supermarkets and shops to stop giving away free carriers from June 1. Following the move, Suiping Huaqiang Plastic Co., a company that annually produced some 250,000 tonnes of bags, has closed. State media revealed that the firm ceased production in mid-January. "Over 90 per cent of our products are on the limit list, so the only way forward for the factory is closure,' a management official was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. According to official statistics, Chinese people use up to 3 billion plastic bags a day and the country has to refine 5 million tonnes (37 million barrels) of crude oil every year to make plastics used for packaging. Suiping Huaqiang, a 2.2-billion yuan ($305 million) company, employed 20,000 persons who now face an uncertain future. China's decree on plastics was a surprise move that went further than similar action taken by the United States and many other developed nations. It is being seen as a sign of growing environmental awareness in a country where breakneck economic growth has led to a serious toll on the air and water. The closure of Suiping Huaqiang may well be followed by others. Chinese leaders are increasingly anxious about the environment and draft laws to punish polluters will be high on the agenda of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, China's Parliament, next week.
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M'shita devises tech to recover metals from plastics in appliances
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co said Tuesday it has developed a recycling technology to recover metals from plastic-coated wires and plastics used in electric and electronic equipment without causing hazardous side effects. Developed in cooperation with Kusatsu Electric Co, the new technology uses the catalytic properties of titanium oxide to facilitate the recovery of inorganic substances such as metals by transforming plastics and other organic substances into harmless gases, Matsushita said. With the technology, mixed plastic waste, which is regarded as non-recyclable and destined for incineration or landfill, is treated and changed into nontoxic gases, said the company, known for its Panasonic brand.