Plastic Pollution

Even if there was a globally-coordinated effort to slash plastic waste, the world will still have to tackle an astonishing 710 million metric tonnes of plastic pollution by 2040. While the research shows that there is no silver bullet when…
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Johnnie Walker, the famous brand of Scotch whisky, will be introducing a new plastic-free bottle made from paper next spring. It is a part of a new collaboration between the brand’s parent corporation Diageo and venture management firm…
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The Outlaw Ocean Music Project is a new collaboration between musicians and journalist Ian Urbina to raise awareness of human rights and environmental crimes in international waters that have for years gone unnoticed and unpunished. Based…
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A new United Nations report has revealed the astonishing waste generated by our electronics. Last year, the world dumped over 53 million tonnes of e-waste with only a tiny fraction ending up recycled. According to the analysts, the…
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Singapore has just added 34 new reverse vending machines to its existing network of just 16. The machines accept plastic and aluminium waste, and users receive discount vouchers as a reward for recycling them. As the city-state’s Semakau…
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Governments are beginning to take concrete action against plastic pollution. From Germany to Japan, new legislation is clamping down on single-use plastics as economies begin to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, which has shifted…
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California-based seafood producer Bumble Bee Foods has announced a US$40 million commitment over the next five years to promote sustainability and plant-based seafood alternatives. Through a dedicated Accelerator Fund, the company will…
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Two students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have just won a sustainability prize in an entrepreneurship competition. Swapnil Mishra and Aditi Deodhar, who founded Planeteers, have created a vegan and…
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Whilst some food establishments have chosen to stop accepting reusable containers and cups during the coronavirus pandemic, experts say that these fears are unfounded. In a new statement, scientists say that reusable containers do not…
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A Legislative Council bills committee vetting the Hong Kong government’s proposed waste disposal levy has decided to discontinue scrutiny over the bill. The move effectively puts an end to years of work that would have introduced…
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A recent investigation by Hong Kong local news media HK01 has revealed that plastic bottles collected in recycling bins at residential housing estates have been sent to landfills. Using plastic bottles wired with GPS trackers, the…
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called on Asia to begin focusing on building a new sustainable “blue economy”. The region’s development bank says that in order to preserve livelihoods and the planet, the continent must begin…
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ShoeX, a Vietnam-based footwear company that has created coffee shoes, has just launched its new product line of coffee face masks. Called AirX, the face mask is made from Vietnamese coffee beans and is reusable, biodegradable and…
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A new report by an international union of chemical scientists, business leaders and government figures calls for more global research on plastics and its impacts. Without fully understanding plastics, the experts say, we will be unable to…
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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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