Every claim on this site, and the study behind it

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Latest studies

• Evidence: High Institutional report

  Canada’s single-use plastics ban survives court challenge

  6 categories of single-use plastic banned nationally

  The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the toxic listing of plastic manufactured items on 30 January 2026, so Canada's single-use plastic bans remain in force.

  Federal Court of Appeal of Canada, 2026 Verified 26 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Medium Cross-sectional

  Plastic detected in almost every human brain sample, at much lower levels

  100% of healthy brain samples contained plastic particles

  Micro- and nanoplastics were found in 100% of healthy and 99.4% of diseased brain samples; healthy tissue median 50.3 µg/g.

  Li R. et al., 2026 Verified 22 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Medium Institutional report

  Plastic bottles and caps overtake cigarette butts as the top beach litter

  1,338,712 plastic bottles collected in one year's cleanup

  Plastic bottles (1.34 million) and caps (886,000) were the most collected items in the 2025 cleanup, overtaking cigarette butts.

  Ocean Conservancy, 2026 Verified 22 Sep 2026

• Evidence: High Institutional report

  Global plastics treaty: still no agreement, next formal round March 2027

  0 treaties agreed after 4 years and 7 sessions

  No treaty has been agreed; talks collapsed in Busan (2024) and Geneva (2025) over production caps, chemicals, finance and voting; the next session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.4) is scheduled for March 2027.

  UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, 2026 Verified 22 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Low Institutional report

  Starbucks’ “widely recyclable” cups: none tracked to a recycling facility

  0 of 36 tracked cups reached a recycling facility

  None of 36 tracked Starbucks cold cups placed in in-store recycling bins reached a recycling facility; most went to landfill or incineration.

  Russianoff N., Beyond Plastics, 2026 Verified 23 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Low Narrative review

  What we know about plastic and dogs

  Microplastics in 84% of UK pet food brands tested (2026 study, as cited)

  Dogs are exposed to plastic and its chemicals through chew toys, food and packaging, household dust and the outdoors; early studies find microplastics in pet food, faeces and dog tissue.

  Russianoff N., Beyond Plastics, 2026 Verified 23 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Medium Institutional report

  7 US states have packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws; California bans plastic checkout bags

  7 US states with packaging EPR laws

  Seven US states have packaging EPR laws; California bans all plastic checkout bags from 1 January 2026; no federal plastics law exists.

  Assent / Packaging Dive (industry trackers), 2026 Verified 22 Sep 2026

• Evidence: High Institutional report

  England’s plastic bag charge cut single-use bag sales at the main supermarkets by 98%

  98% fewer single-use bags at the main supermarkets since 2014

  The 94 reporting retailers sold 399 million single-use bags in 2025/26, down 9% year on year and 81% since 2016 to 2017; the main 7 supermarkets sold 126 million, down 98% since 2014.

  Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), 2026 Verified 24 Sep 2026

• Evidence: Medium Institutional report

  Six of Australia’s eight states and territories ban a core set of single-use plastics

  6 of 8 states and territories ban straws, cutlery and polystyrene food containers

  Six of eight Australian states and territories ban single-use plastic straws, cutlery, plates and EPS food containers; Tasmania has proposed bans and the Northern Territory has committed to them. Western Australia and South Australia added further items in 2025.

  Australian Marine Conservation Society (tracker), 2026 Verified 24 Sep 2026

See also: the headline numbers and how they are changing on Statistics.