In a new program trial in Australia, oyster mushrooms are taking on an important new task. The fungi will consume the toxic chemicals and plastics inside up to 1.2 million cigarette butts, which will be diverted from landfills for the trial. In Australia, people smoke about 18 billion cigarettes a year, and up to 9 […]
The Laguna Beach, California, city council has voted to ban the sale and public use of balloons — inflated with helium or not — in order to stop a major source of marine trash and reduce the risk of wildfires. Starting next year, all balloons in the community of 23,000 will be prohibited from being […]
In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the risk that single-use plastics pose to the environment and human health as well as greater efforts made to regulate them. Despite this, the number of single-use plastics produced in 2021 rose to record heights at 139 million metric tons. That’s six million metric tons more […]
Zero-waste refers to principles of minimizing waste production as much as possible. Béa Johnson of Zero Waste Home calls the framework for zero-waste the 5 Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.
Supermarkets Woolworths and Coles have been ordered by the New South Wales (NSW) Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to dispose of more than 5,732 tons of recycled soft plastics currently sitting in more than a dozen warehouses across NSW. The concern is that they’re being dangerously stored since the collapse of recycling organization REDcycle — a […]
Scientists from Osaka Metropolitan University have found a way to synthesize fumaric acid, a raw material using for producing the biodegradable plastic polybutylene succinate, using artificial photosynthesis. The plastic, typically made from petroleum, was synthesized from carbon dioxide, biomass-derived compounds, and solar energy. The study, published in the journal Sustainable Energy & Fuels, documents the […]
In England, the government has announced plans to ban single-use plastic dinnerware, including closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam trays (commonly referred to as the brand name Styrofoam), plastic utensils and plastic plates. The announcement follows similar bans in Scotland and Wales. Scotland’s ban on single-use plastics took effect in August 2022, and Wales recently passed a […]
In an attempt to deal with the growing plastic waste problem in the UK and the planet, the UK government is set to ban additional single-use plastic items like plates and cutlery in England, after banning straws, stirrers and cotton swabs there in 2020. From November of last year to February of 2022, a public […]