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United States of plastic

United States of plastic is supported by

United States of plastic is supported by

18 February 2020

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  • Fewer than 15% of recycling facilities surveyed could process plastic clamshells, like these.

    America’s 'recycled' plastic waste is clogging landfills, survey finds

    Many facilities lack the ability to process ‘mixed plastics’, a category of waste that has virtually no market as new products

10 January 2020

  • A cleanup on Hawaii's Kamilo beach, which has been inundated with plastic waste

    Welcome to Hawaii's 'plastic beach', one of the world's dirtiest places

    Hawaii has long evoked images of a Pacific paradise but Kamilo Beach, located on the Big Island, presents a starkly different reality

5 January 2020

  • UC Berkeley students Mary Carmen Reid and Derek Popple enjoy coffee at Caffe Strada, a business that offers the Vessel program.

    The California city that wants to eliminate disposable coffee cups

    Berkeley’s new law targeting throwaway food packaging requires customers to go reusable or pay a fee

31 December 2019

  • In this undated handout photo provided by The Ocean Clean Up, plastic is retained in front of an extended cork line in the Pacific Ocean. A Dutch inventor says that after a series of setbacks his system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii is now working. Boyan Slat, a university dropout who founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit, announced Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 that the floating boom is skimming up waste ranging in size from a discarded net and a car wheel complete with tire to chips of plastic measuring just 1 millimeter. (The Ocean Cleanup via AP)

    The missing 99%: why can't we find the vast majority of ocean plastic?

    What scientists can see and measure, in the garbage patches and on beaches, accounts for only a tiny fraction of the total plastic entering the water

27 November 2019

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    Recycling isn’t working – here are 15 ways to shrink your plastic footprint

    Only 9% of plastics get recycled, and significant reductions will require systemic change – but there are easy tips for individuals to cut back

15 November 2019

  • FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2016, file photo, crushed plastic bottles sit in a bale following sorting at the Mid-America Recycling plant, in Lincoln, Neb. Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Keurig Dr. Pepper are investing $100 million to improve U.S. bottle recycling and processing. (Francis Gardler/The Journal-Star via AP, File)

    Big plastic polluters accused of cynically backing US recycling day

    America Recycles Day promoted by EPA is brainchild of not-for-profit backed by companies that produce plastic products

4 October 2019

  • A plastic bottle floating in the ocean in the San Francisco bay. An estimated 7tn pieces of microplastics flow into the San Francisco bay via stormwater drains.

    'Everywhere we looked': trillions of microplastics found in San Francisco bay

    Most comprehensive study to date finds plastic in sediment collected from bay and tributaries and digestive tracts of fish

13 September 2019

  • Plastic garbage floating in the ocean. Currently, less than 10% of the plastic sold in the US each year is recycled.

    Most ambitious US law to tackle single-use plastics faces make-or-break moment

    Proposed legislation in California would commit to 75% reduction in plastic waste by 2030, and phase out most single-use packaging

13 August 2019

  • Trail markers on the trail near Colorado’s highest peak, Mount Elbert, in the Rocky Mountains.

    It's raining plastic: microscopic fibers fall from the sky in Rocky Mountains

    Discovery raises new questions about the amount of plastic waste permeating the air, water, and soil virtually everywhere on Earth

31 July 2019

  • Ben Lecomte holds a piece of plastic found in the Pacific ocean that has become a home for small crabs.

    Paddling in plastic: meet the man swimming the Pacific garbage patch

    Ben Lecomte is making a trans-Pacific journey to better understand how plastics pollution is affecting our oceans

3 July 2019

  • Mayor De Blasio bans the use of plastic in New York City’s public sector<br>BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - APRIL 11: Workers collect the days recycled trash while New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio holds a press conference at a city recycling center processing plant to sign a bill banning single-use plastics in the public sector on April 11, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. The mayor delivered remarks about the urgency of global warming and the government’s essential role in combating it, including legislation to end the use of plastic products that can be replaced with renewable products. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

    US produces far more waste and recycles far less of it than other developed countries

    US represents 4% of the world’s population but produces 12% of municipal solid waste, a stark contrast with China and India

25 June 2019

  • ‘In 2019, plastic production and incineration will add over 850m metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — equivalent to the emissions from 189 coal-fired power plants.’

    The Earth’s climate is paying for our addiction to plastic

    Carroll Muffett
    Every stage of the plastic lifecycle releases harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to global heating

24 June 2019

  • Plastic Waste Pick-up As South Korea Faces Recycling Havoc Due To China's Ban On Trash Imports<br>A worker operates a crane claw as it unloads plastic waste onto a stockpile at a recycling center in Yongin, South Korea, on Wednesday, April 11, 2018. Some South Korean recycling companies this month stopped collecting plastic bags and Styrofoam containers after China banned imports of plastic waste. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg

    Upset about the plastic crisis? Stop trying so hard

    Roland Geyer
  • All the plastic ever made comic

    Humans have made 8.3bn tons of plastic since 1950. This is the illustrated story of where it's gone

21 June 2019

  • Pearl Pai poses for a portrait at her home in Berkeley, CA., on Friday, June 7, 2019. Pai, who for years has been sorting her recyclables and garbage, holds a bag of sorted recyclables similar to that of what she used to bring to her local recycling center. She was recently informed that they will no longer accept most of the items that she is used to bringing.

    Americans' plastic recycling is dumped in landfills, investigation shows

  • Workers At The Columbus

    Never gonna give you up: how plastic seduced America

20 June 2019

  • Plastic

    Plastic wrapped in plastic: the wasteful reality of America's grocery stores

    On a shopping trip to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and other leading markets, plastic feels more plentiful than the food itself

17 June 2019

  • Recycling Operations At Material Recovery Facility<br>Discarded plastic bottles made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) are bundled at the York Region Material Recovery Facility (MRF), which collects recyclables from greater Toronto residents and repackages them for further processing by recycling companies, in East Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010. Recycled materials supply supply 40% of global raw materials needs according to the Bureau of International Recycling. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images RECYCLE; RECYCLING AMERICA; AMERICAS CANADA; CANADIAN ENVIRONMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL PAPER; PAPERS PLASTIC; PLASTICS ALUMINUM; METALS

    Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret

    A Guardian report from 11 countries tracks how US waste makes its way across the world – and overwhelms the poorest nations
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    How you're recycling plastic wrong, from coffee cups to toothpaste

    If you don’t clean your recycling, it can harm more than it helps. And that icon with the arrows is virtually meaningless
  • EU Commission presents its Plastics Strategy to ban single-use products<br>epa06768428 (FILE) - Plastic waste seen at the ALBA Group recycling plant in Berlin, Germany, 15 August 2017 (reissued 28 May 2018). A ruling on 30 July from the appellate division upheld an earlier ruling from New York State Supreme Court that had struck down New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 16-ounce limit on sodas and sweet drinks. The EU Commission presented its Plastics Strategy on 28 May 2018 to ban single-use products, like plastic utensils, straws, coffee stirrers and cotton swabs, in the fight against plastic waste which is a main source of environmental pollution because they are used only once, hard to collect for recycling and can kill animals, fish and sea turtles when they swallow plastic straw. EPA/CLEMENS BILAN

    Why the Guardian is taking on America's plastic waste crisis

    United States of Plastic, a new series that will run for the rest of 2019, will reveal global inequality and the environmental consequences of our dependence on a miracle material
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