A year after China stopped accepting most scrap material exports, other Asian countries are following Beijing’s lead, forcing wealthy nations to find domestic solutions for managing their wastes.
New research shows that chemicals leached from ocean plastic impair the growth and oxygen production of the planet’s most abundant photosynthesiser - endangering marine ecosystems and the climate.
The entire Cocos (Keeling) Island group is a little more than twice the size of the Melbourne CBD. So it’s hard to envision 414 million debris items washed up there.
As well as polluting our seas, plastics are warming the planet too. Urgent changes are needed to eliminate plastic’s contribution to climate breakdown.
Many communities are banning single-use plastic shopping bags to reduce pollution, but a study in California shows that some consumers responded by purchasing more heavy plastic trash bags.
Ben Madden, University of Technology Sydney and Nick Florin, University of Technology Sydney
Too much recyclable packaging is still finding its way into landfill - and plastic is the biggest culprit, with two-thirds going unrecovered, according to a new analysis.
Dozens of cities, states and nations are enacting bans and restrictions on single-use plastic bags and other items. A legal expert explains how a global treaty could build on these efforts.
Since China stopped accepting Australia’s recyclable plastic, the majority of exported plastic waste is now going to developing nations in South East Asia.