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Humans now known to have polluted Earth from deepest ocean to highest peakMicroplastic pollution has been discovered in snow close to the peak of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. With plastic debris revealed in 2018 at the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, it is now clear that humanity’s litter has polluted the entire planet.The tiny plastic fibres were found within a...

Efforts to cut waste will reduce volume only by about 7%, say researchersPlastic waste flowing into the oceans is expected to nearly triple in volume in the next 20 years, while efforts to stem the tide have so far made barely a dent in the tsunami of waste, research shows. Governments could make drastic cuts to the flow of plastic reaching the oceans through...

Tearfund NGO says drinks makers not doing enough to tackle their plastic pollutionCoca-Cola and Pepsi are not doing enough to reduce their plastic waste footprint globally, according to a report.The charity Tearfund has compiled a league table of how the companies, and Unilever and Nestlé, are faring in their commitments set against a three-point plan. Continue reading...

Bacterial enzyme originally found in compost can be used to make high-quality new bottlesA mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours has been created by scientists.The enzyme, originally discovered in a compost heap of leaves, reduced the bottles to chemical building blocks that were then used to make high-quality new bottles. Existing recycling technologies usually produce plastic only good...

Calls for sachets to be included in UK and European legislation banning other single-use items The government must act urgently to stamp out the “curse” of single-use plastic sachets, billions of which are helping to fuel the global plastics crisis, campaigners are warning.A coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from...

Plastic bags to be banned in all major cities by end of 2020, says state plannerChina is stepping up restrictions on the production, sale and use of single-use plastic products, according to the state planner, as it seeks to tackle one of the country’s biggest environmental problems.Vast amounts of untreated plastic waste are buried in landfills or dumped in rivers. The United Nations has...

Save the Children urges people taking part in its charity event to source sweaters through clothes swaps and vintage shopsSave the Children is calling on people to hold clothes swaps and scour vintage shops rather than buy new Christmas jumpers, after research found that 95% of the novelty items for sale contained plastic.The appeal for consumer “sustainability” comes ahead of the charity’s annual Christmas...

Study of chicken egg samples reveals presence of dangerous chemical compounds around areas where waste is dumpedPlastic waste exports to south-east Asia have been implicated in extreme levels of toxins entering the human food chain in Indonesia.A new study that sampled chicken eggs around sites in the country where plastic waste accumulates identified alarming levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls long recognised as extremely...

Europe’s manufacturers face $250m-a-year hit as rising demand drives up priceThe battle to reduce Europe’s plastic waste could become a quarter of a billion dollars more expensive every year as the cost of recycled plastic soars.In recent months, the price of recycled plastic flakes, used to make goods from soft drink bottles to glitter, has become more expensive than virgin plastic for the first...

Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator saysA huge floating device designed by Dutch scientists to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project, tweeted that the 600...

I tried to re-enact my nanna’s depression-mindset, zero-waste home, but no victory over plastic went unpunishedMy “plastic-free” July began with an idea to retain every piece of plastic waste I consumed, and port it around over the month in a bag with me wherever I went.Had I stuck to this plan – despite deliberate and even desperate efforts to excise plastic waste from my...