Starbucks’ “widely recyclable” cups: none tracked to a recycling facility
A campaign group hid Bluetooth trackers in Starbucks cold cups dropped into in-store recycling bins. Of the 36 trackers that reported back, none reached…
Policymakers
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Glass bottles and jars
Glass never sheds microplastics or leaches chemicals, so it is far less harmful than plastic if it ends up in nature. But it takes…
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Bio-PE and bio-PP drop-in plastics
Polyethylene made from sugarcane ethanol; chemically identical to fossil PE, recyclable in the same stream, and not biodegradable.
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Reuse and refill systems
Not a material but a system: returnable or refillable packaging that avoids single-use waste entirely, with 35 to 70 percent lower greenhouse gas (GHG)…
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Making virgin plastic emits 5.3% of global greenhouse gases outside farming and land use
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found plastic production emitted 2.24 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2019, measured as the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2)…
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PLA (polylactic acid) and its limits
The most common compostable bioplastic, made from fermented corn or cane sugar; suits clear cups and clamshells but only breaks down in industrial composting.
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PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates)
Bacteria-made polyesters that biodegrade in soil, fresh water and seawater; the only mainstream bioplastic family that does not depend on industrial composting.
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The plastic made in a single year will cost society US$3.7 trillion over its lifetime
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Dalberg estimated the lifetime cost of 2019’s plastic at more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of…
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Canada’s single-use plastics ban survives court challenge
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled in January 2026 that the government can regulate plastic items as toxic, restoring the legal basis for the…