In the lead up to the UN summit being held in Nairobi, UNEP has named Kenya as an emerging leader in the fight against plastic pollution and among the first countries in East Africa to sign the Clean Seas initiative. Responding to these developments, Greenpeace Africa senior Political Advisor Fredrick Njehu has said:
Read MoreEnvironmental and social activists around the world have called upon major shipping lines to prove their corporate responsibility commitments by no longer transporting plastic wastes from rich industrialized countries to countries that are ill-equipped to handle it in an environmentally sound manner.
Read MoreA loophole in state law allows California to deem exported plastic waste as recyclable even as these products are landfilled, burned, or dumped in the country they’re shipped to. Today, California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) introduced legislation Assembly Bill 881 to make sure only truly recyclable plastic waste exports count toward the state’s recycling goals.
Read MoreThis legal opinion is an analysis of the legal obligations for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members trading in plastic wastes, following the OECD’s inability to reach consensus on the incorporation of most of the Basel Plastic Amendments into the OECD Decision on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations (“The OECD Wastes Trade Decision”).
Read MoreHealth and environmental risks have prompted 25 U.S. states and the District of Columbia to enact e-waste recycling laws. Some of these measures ban landfilling electronics, while others require manufacturers to support recycling efforts. All of them target large products, like old cathode-ray tube TVs, which contain up to 4 pounds of lead.
Read MorePost-Brexit Britain will continue to use the Global South as its dumping ground for unsorted plastic waste, despite the EU banning the practice.
Read MoreThe U.S. generates more plastic waste than any country worldwide, having cranked out an estimated 42 million metric tons of it in 2016 alone, according to a recent study published in Science Advances. That figure is likely even higher today, says Kara Lavender Law, the lead study author and a professor at the Sea Education Association.
Read MoreIndustry experts say overseas buyers are struggling to source scrap plastic after new restrictions on the global trade of recovered plastic began taking effect.
Read MoreThe UK hopes to convince US President-elect Joe Biden to accelerate negotiations for a trade deal by inserting provisions for environmental standards into the proposed deal.
Read MoreAJR6 calls ratification of the Basel Agreement a critical step in properly regulating international environmental injustice of plastic dumping on countries without currently having the capacity to properly manage the material.
Read MoreIn the wake of the European Union reminding the world that as of January 1 they will not allow the export of mixed and contaminated plastic waste to developing countries, it has been confirmed that the UK will not adopt such a prohibition post-Brexit and will adopt a far weaker stance with respect to human rights and environmental protection.
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Read MoreA quietly signed agreement between Canada and the United States allows the free shipment of plastic waste to continue, a move that activists say will soon violate an international treaty.
Read MoreA trade agreement signed in late October but kept secret until last week will allow Canada to keep shipping plastic scrap to the US for disposal — possibly in unsafe, or even illegal, ways.
Read MoreUK waste being shipped to the US to be incinerated has contaminated an unspoiled island after falling into the sea. Shredded plastic on its way to a plant in Maine in the northeastern US has washed ashore on Sears Island, a 1.5 sq mile island home to seals, otters and amphibians.
Read MoreEnvironment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin on Sunday said the government of Bangladesh has not allowed and will never allow plastic waste and its illegal trade into our country.
Read MoreOn January 1, 2021, it will immediately be illegal for 187 countries, including China, Mexico, Malaysia, India, and Indonesia that are parties to the Basel Convention to receive a variety of mixed and contaminated plastic wastes collected from the United States.
Read MoreEnvironmental Groups are calling a secret agreement signed between Canada and the US on October 26th of this year, illegal, unacceptable and dangerous.
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Read MoreGeorg Eide convicted for having aided cash buyer in attempt to illegally export toxic ship.
Read MoreRecently tabulated trade statistics from the United States Commerce Department show that the US continues to export about 28,000 metric tons per month of its plastic waste to developing countries.
Read MoreA recent investigation into what happens to San Francisco’s recycling brought largely positive news: 81 percent of what residents deposit into their blue bins is recycled. That rate is among the highest in the nation. But the bigger picture of waste disposal in San Francisco is not so rosy. The city is far from reaching its ultimate goal of zero waste — and officials say it may never get there if manufacturers don’t change their ways.
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