The best plastic-free cutting boards: I spent six weeks testing 10 boards, and these won
A good, sturdy chopping board will last you many years. I tested the best non-plastic, non-toxic ones, including some made out of wood and synthetic rubberA…
Plastic news
Every week we read the new studies, policy moves and industry announcements on plastic, summarise them, say what they mean, and link to the original. AI-drafted summaries are always checked by an editor before they appear here.
Wins this week
It is working, somewhere, every week
Bans that cut litter, companies that switched, towns that went refillable. Proof that the actions on this site have outcomes.
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Scaling reuse: What have we learned from city-scale pilots?
With market penetration of reuse still relatively low, at ~20%, what does it take to move reuse from an individual-business initiative to a functioning city-scale system,…
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Team Sequesters Plastic and Makes New Products Before it Breaks Down in Environment
In central California’s city of San Carlos, recycling plastics is a family affair. Nick Schick and his parents, David and Andrea, work exclusively with products made…
All news
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US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pulls guidance to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater permits
Environmental groups warn this could have a “chilling effect” on language restricting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in permits for sites like landfills and…
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Opinion: the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) rollback is not the whole problem
Federal rules regulate just 6 of 14,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). A proposed US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rollback could drop that to…
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Classification of real plastic waste using machine learning-assisted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Researchers in South Korea and the US tested whether a laser can tell apart the four most common waste plastics (PP, PET, HDPE and…
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Food Packaging Forum (FPF) comments on three EU initiatives on recycling and recycled content under the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
Food Packaging Forum (FPF) provides inputs to three public consultations on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR); developing sustainability criteria for plastic recycling…
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The Ocean is Changing—Here’s What We Can Do About It
Our ocean has absorbed more than 90% of excess heat caused by human-driven climate change and a quarter of the carbon dioxide we emit.…
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Expert Witness Integrity Trumps Attorney Expectations in Microplastics Case
Expert witness work on microplastics in beverage containers ended when attorneys sought inflated results. Scientific integrity and honest data interpretation prevailed over financial incentives…
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US packaging is evolving. The recycling system isn’t ready
The second installment of the 2026 State of Recycling report from The Recycling Partnership indicates that lighter-weight packaging substrates have become more prevalent, requiring…
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The best plastic-free cutting boards: I spent six weeks testing 10 boards, and these won
A good, sturdy chopping board will last you many years. I tested the best non-plastic, non-toxic ones, including some made out of wood and…
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‘Plasticorals,’ coral rubble fused with plastic, represent a new form of plastic pollution
During routine beach litter surveys on the subtropical island of Okinawa, Japan, researchers came across small, brightly colored specks in the pale coral rubble.…
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Hemp waste cellulose unlocks tougher biodegradable plastics
Korean researchers have developed a method to strengthen biodegradable plastics using hemp hurd, an agricultural byproduct. The approach is expected to be applicable to…