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Articles on Plastic recycling
Displaying 21 - 40 of 45 articles
From larger-than-life Lego blocks to bird-nest inspired structures, researchers are finding innovative ways to reuse and recycle the plastic we throw away.
Some plastic sent overseas for recycling ends up as pollution, or goes up in toxic smoke. But there are steps we can take to ensure our waste is processed as intended.
Life-cycle assessments of food packaging often omit the impact and possible toxicity of plastics leaking into the environment. Excluding these factors gives plastics an unjustified advantage.
Plastic waste is a global problem. Now a chemist has developed a new strategy for breaking down the most common plastic so it can be not just recycled, but upcycled into desirable goods.
As much as 53 million tonnes of plastic waste could spill into the world’s rivers, lakes and oceans by 2030 — even if countries meet their commitments.
New Zealand’s potential to expand its domestic recycling sector is enormous. It could create jobs and divert millions of tonnes of waste from landfills, as long as there are clear, measurable targets.
A media study of public criticism of plastic reveals that stigmatisation may result in limited bans, it leaves the vast majority of plastic production and pollution unexplored.
Even recycled plastics still end up in landfill with our current system.
To manage plastic wastes, nations first need to know what they have and where it’s coming from. A case study from Trinidad and Tobago shows how this approach can help identify solutions.
2019 was a big year for dire warnings about the state of the planet, but crises can spur solutions.
Waste-to-energy incineration has been raised as a solution to the global plastic waste problem, but the technology adds pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and encourages more waste production.
Consumers are much more likely to recycle their waste after viewing messages showing the products it might turn into.
Plastic washed ashore from the ocean is hard to recycle. What else can we do with it?
A nanotube innovation using waste plastic could help solve one of the world’s energy problems.
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.
As well as polluting our seas, plastics are warming the planet too. Urgent changes are needed to eliminate plastic’s contribution to climate breakdown.
Biodegradable bags still strong enough to carry shopping after three years in the ground show that ‘biodegradability’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Asian countries have become a dumping ground for the plastic waste from wealthy countries.
Since China stopped accepting Australia’s recyclable plastic, the majority of exported plastic waste is now going to developing nations in South East Asia.
Top contributors
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Associate professor, Swansea University
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Research Principal, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Research Chair, Indigenous Approaches to Environmental Management, Keele University
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Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate Professor, Massey University
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Professor of Business and Society, Audencia
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Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business, Law and Art, Southern Cross University
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Associate Professor and Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Lecturer, School of Agriculture and Food Science & Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland
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Waste Pickers Global Coordinator, WIEGO & Lecturer in Architecture, Design and Urbanism, Universidad de la República Uruguay
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Susman Professor in Sustainability and Professor of Marketing, Penn State
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Professor of Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology
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Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph
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Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University
