Plastic Pollution

A new study finds that the amount of plastic pollution in our seas is likely to have been severely undercounted. The true number may be higher than the amount of zooplankton, which underpins our marine ecosystem and helps to regulate the…
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In late February, Hong Kong-based environmental NGO OceansAsia revealed the devastation left behind by littered disposable face masks. A few months on, we catch up with Gary Stokes, the founder and director of the organisation, about the…
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The British government is proposing to introduce a new tax on plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic. If the planned bill is passed, any plastic used for packaging across all sectors that is manufactured in or…
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Sustainable personal care startup Nohbo has recently announced that it has raised US$3 million in a seed funding round. With the new capital, the company, which makes water-soluble vegan soap pods, hopes to scale up their manufacturing…
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A biochemicals company based in the Netherlands is now developing “all-plant” bottles, which may soon land on supermarket shelves. The company, Avantium, uses plant sugars instead of fossil fuels to manufacture its degradable and…
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Seoul-based food tech startup PhytoCo has officially launched PhytoSalt, a salt that is 20% lower in sodium and is free of microplastics. Derived from the salt-accumulating plant Salicornia, the new product is the world’s first plant-based…
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A new study by researchers at the University of Strathclyde and the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées at the University of Toulouse reveals that sea spray contains tiny plastic particles. The scientists say that once broken down in the ocean into…
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Ecoinno, a Hong Kong-based company producing sustainable packaging made from plant fibres, has attracted US$6 million in a series A1 funding round led by two Alibaba funds. The startup says it will use the new capital to scale up…
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By: Annie Leonard The fossil fuel industry is dependent on our plastic dependency. We can starve it. The fossil fuel industry is in trouble and has a sneaky idea for saving itself: It wants to produce lots more plastic. Many…
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By: Charis McGowan A startup is recycling tonnes of discarded fishing nets throughout Chile. Is this a template for tackling the global plastic waste problem? In Tumbes, a village in southern Chile, discarded plastic…
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By: Erin McCormick From singing birthday cards to baby food pouches, a growing trend of mixing materials is making recycling even harder. The cheerful, singing voice inside your musical “Happy Birthday” card is enough to strike…
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Hong Kong’s Consumer Council, the watchdog for consumer products sold in the city, has found metal contaminants and microplastics in salt product samples tested. The safety tests were conducted on a variety of salt products across all…
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Faced with a lack of regulation and unenthusiastic governments, ingenious activists across Asia are finding localised and creative ways to fight against plastic waste, and winning. Every year, we create 380 million tonnes of…
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A new report by the environmental NGO Tearfund has just revealed the massive plastic and carbon pollution of major drink firms. According to the report, the 4 leading beverage corporations – Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever –…
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A new meta-analysis study by a research team at the University of Washington has revealed that fish now contains 283 times more parasitic worms than in the 1980s – which is ingested by humans when consuming raw, smoked or improperly frozen…
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A bacterium that breaks down toxic plastic as food, which in the process helps treat the plastic, has been found by scientists. The particular toxic plastic it feeds on is polyurethane, which is widely used in many industrial and…
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A number of conservative think tanks and lobbying groups are now using the coronavirus pandemic to stoke fears about reusable products in order to fight plastic bag bans in the United States. Articles misrepresenting studies are now being…
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Tap into a food delivery app on your phone or laptop, choose a restaurant, pick your dish, and relax. Within minutes, you can expect your hot food order delivered straight to your door by a rider. But is it just food that gets delivered?…
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From edible coffee cups to food containers and bags, Indonesia wants to replace plastic with bioplastic alternatives made from seaweed. Currently, the country is the world’s second largest producer of seaweed behind China, making about 8…
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Global packaging company Amcor has just developed and launched a PET container made from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content resin. According to the company, the clear bottles are the first of its kind in the world. They are…
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Dyper, a bamboo diaper subscription platform based in the United States, has recently started a new ReDyper program in partnership with recycling company TerraCycle to take back used nappies from customers to compost them. Launched last…
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