For the first time ever, international shipments of plastic waste came under global control this year. That’s because disposable plastic — a major pollutant of the world’s waters and atmosphere, fodder for incinerators, occupier of overflowing landfills, and material for costly recycling — was added to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.
Read MoreTurkey has become the latest destination for British plastic waste, which ends up dumped, burned or left to pollute the ocean, a Greenpeace investigation has found. More than half of the plastic the British government says is being recycled are sent overseas, often to countries without the necessary infrastructure to do so.
Read MoreOver 150 environmental and social justice organizations worldwide on Thursday called upon the Biden Administration to fully ratify the 1989 Basel Convention on global waste management as a matter of urgency in alignment with the Administration’s new emphasis on environmental justice.
Read MoreMay 13, 2021. Seattle, WA. Today, over 150 environmental and social justice organizations worldwide have called upon the Biden Administration to fully ratify the 1989 Basel Convention on global waste management as a matter of urgency in alignment with the Administration's new emphasis on environmental justice. In a letter to the President, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, and Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Brenda Mallory, the groups called out the glaring contradiction between the Administration’s strong stated emphasis on environmental justice domestically and the poor record of the United States on those issues internationally.
Read MoreCHP's Murat Bakan explained the 'journey' of his garbage imported from Germany to Turkey. The minister said thousands of tons of garbage had been sent, but the company did not receive the waste.
Read MoreCountries in the European Union should be legally required to recycle critical metals in electronic waste, a report has found. The proposed law would be unprecedented and could drive countries outside the EU to follow suit, but there are several challenges to overcome to make this recycling work in practice.
Read MoreTurkish authorities could send at least 140 containers of household waste back to Germany . The WirtschaftsWoche reports. The garbage was exported to Turkey and should be used there in a recycling plant. However, the recycler in question has now had its certificate for the recovery of German household waste withdrawn, said a spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry when asked by WirtschaftsWoche.
Read MoreConsignments of plastic waste from the German packaging waste recovery system now in Turkey have been the topic of much conversation and conjecture in recent days. Thousands of tonnes of sorted fractions may have to be repatriated, EUWID has learned.
Read MoreLYON, France – Thousands of suspects, companies and criminal networks engaged in maritime pollution have been detected and investigated in a global INTERPOL-led operation.
Read MoreNew EU green finance rules could choke off money to build new waste incinerators — upsetting the industry and worrying countries that had been planning on burning garbage to generate energy.
Read MoreIn the trash-strewn slums of Sintesti, less than 10 miles from Romania’s capital, Mihai Bratu scrapes a dangerous living for his Roma family amid the foul reek of burning plastic that cloys the air day and night.
Read MoreThirty-one lawmakers in the European Parliament have signed a manifesto calling for the end of plastic waste exports outside Europe and the facilitation of intra-EU shipment procedures to promote a genuine circular economy within the EU.
Read MoreDespite having the second-lowest waste-recycling rates in the European Union, Romania has become overflowing with waste and garbage - most of it brought in illegally from abroad.
Read MoreSince 2019 Malaysia, a relatively small nation in Southeast Asia, has sent 267 containers of plastic waste back to their countries of origin. It was reported last week that they are in the process of sending back 81 more containers. The trash was returned to the United States, amongst a number of other first world countries, including France, the U.K, Canada, Singapore and Spain.
Read MoreReduce. Reuse. Recycle. According to The National Museum of American History, this popular slogan, with its iconic three arrows forming a triangle, embodied a national call to action to save the environment in the 1970s. In that same decade, the first Earth Day happened, the EPA was formed and Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, encouraging recycling and conservation of resources, Enviro Inc. reported.
Read MorePlastic consumption has exploded over the years. This has caused plastic waste production worldwide to steadily increased by 10 million metric tons every year in the last 10 years, to reach almost 360 million metric tons in 2018.
Read MoreWorkers at a mercury recovery plant near Cato Ridge suffered and died. Despite a commission of inquiry, it has taken three decades to get the huge pile of toxic waste dealt with.
Read MoreIn the villages surrounding Romanian capital Bucharest, the fires burning discarded electronic kit and car parts for scrap metal never stop.
Read MorePlastic waste trade creates immeasurable harm to society, health and the environment that is felt disproportionately across the world, and has been happening for decades.
Read MoreVilifying legal plastic recyclers in the country along with illegal operators will hurt legitimate businesses and undermine environmental conservation efforts here, said two plastics associations.
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