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…
Policy and law
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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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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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19–23 million tonnes of plastic entered rivers, lakes and seas in 2016
Even the most ambitious commitments would leave tens of millions of tonnes of plastic entering aquatic ecosystems every year.
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Plastic bottles and caps overtake cigarette butts as the top beach litter
Ocean Conservancy’s 40th International Coastal Cleanup logged 1.3 million plastic bottles and 886,000 caps in a single year.
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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.
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More than 16,000 chemicals are used in plastics, and a quarter are of concern
The PlastChem report found far more chemicals in plastics than regulators assumed, with over 4,200 hazardous and fewer than 6% regulated internationally.
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EU cuts the ‘safe’ dose of bisphenol A (BPA) 20,000-fold and then bans it in food packaging
The European Food Safety Authority concluded that dietary BPA exposure exceeds the new safe level by hundreds of times in every age group.
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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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Plastic could use up 10–13% of the world’s remaining carbon budget by 2050
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)’s Plastic & Climate report estimated lifecycle plastic emissions at 850 million tonnes in 2019, rising to 1.34 billion…