Roads and the vehicles using them are responsible for 84 per cent of microplastics found in the atmosphere, according to the results of a new study. Researchers from Utah State University examined different sources of atmospheric microplastic pollution found in the western US over a 14 month period. These microscopic pieces of plastic pollution are … Read more
Morrisons will become first UK supermarket to ban sale of plastic ‘bags for life’ in stores Supermarket to save 3,200 tonnes of plastic a year with removal of ‘bags for life’ Bradford-based grocer said customers able to purchase reusable paper bags The move comes after a trial using just paper bags in eight of its … Read more
Talk about kelping the environment! Just Eat is testing compostable SEAWEED food boxes in drive to tackle plastic pollution in the takeaway sector Just Eat is testing Notpla’s seaweed-coated boxes with 11 restaurant partners The trial will last 3 weeks, during which Just Eat predicts as many as 30,000 plastic boxes will be prevented from … Read more
Chemicals and pieces of plastic produced through the use of packaging are migrating into food and harming plants and soil ecosystems, scientists warn. Ecologists from the Free University of Berlin contributed one of three evidence-based essays exploring the problem of microplastics and how best to tackle them. The German team, led by Matthias Rillig, they … Read more
A Bolivian lake that was once an oasis of natural beauty full of thriving wildlife has become a waterless basin full of plastic waste. Lake Uru Uru in western Bolivia is covered in mountains of rubbish including plastic bottles and other man-made garbage for as far as the eye can see. The piles of rubbish … Read more
They’ve bottled out: Fury as plastic bottle deposit scheme is delayed for three years as ministers lay blame on Covid pandemic Deposit return scheme to encourage bottle recycling was put back until 2024 Government said plans would go ahead but it would consult ‘continued appetite’ Ministers claim delay is due to Covid but it has dismayed … Read more
Has the Government lost its bottle over the scourge of plastic pollution? Scandalously — and inexplicably — it seems so. Yesterday, barely 24 hours after a minister boasted that Britain was a ‘global leader when it comes to tackling plastic’, the Mail revealed that an official ‘bottle return’ scheme has been put back until at … Read more
Return of the ‘money back bottle’? Shoppers could be handed 20p for every plastic bottle or can they recycle as Government mulls bringing back popular 1960s deposit scheme The Government has long been planning to introduce a deposit return scheme Scheme would see a small deposit added to the cost of drinks in plastic bottles … Read more
Waitrose bans plastic toys in children’s magazines in latest eco drive… after bowing to pressure from girl, 10 Skye Neville, 10, called on magazine publishers to improve carbon footprints Waitrose has pledged to do away with magazines that come with the items It has also urged publishers to replace ‘pointless plastic’ with other alternatives By … Read more
Birds Eye issues urgent recall of chicken burgers amid fears they could contain pieces of red plastic The firm’s packs of four chicken burgers with golden wholegrain recalled Items could contain plastic and are unsafe to eat, says Food Standards Agency Concerned shoppers should return them to stores immediately for a full refund By Antony … Read more