Lancet Countdown: plastics cost more than US$1.5 trillion a year in health damage
The Lancet’s new annual tracker calls plastics a grave, growing and under-recognised danger to human and planetary health.
Economy
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Minderoo-Monaco Commission: plastics harm health at every stage of their life
The first full-lifecycle medical review found plastics cause disease from oil extraction through manufacturing, use and disposal.
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One plastic chemical linked to 356,000 heart-disease deaths a year
New York University (NYU) researchers estimate the plasticiser di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was linked to 13.5% of all cardiovascular deaths among 55–64-year-olds worldwide in 2018.
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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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EU Packaging Regulation applies from August 2026: all packaging recyclable by 2030
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) sets binding reuse targets, bans single-use plastic for small fresh produce and hotel miniatures from 2030, and…
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England’s plastic bag charge cut single-use bag sales at the main supermarkets by 98%
The main 7 supermarkets sold 126 million single-use bags in 2025/26, down from 7.6 billion in 2014, before the charge. All 94 reporting retailers…
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UK deposit return scheme launches October 2027; packaging fees already live
The UK now charges producers £423 per tonne of plastic packaging and will add a 20p deposit on drinks containers from 1 October 2027.
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7 US states have packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws; California bans plastic checkout bags
With no federal plastics law, US states are acting: seven have packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) and California ended plastic checkout bags from 1…
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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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‘More plastic than fish by 2050’: a famous claim built on shaky numbers
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 2016 projection rests on an extrapolation its own source author did not endorse and a fish estimate later revised upwards.