Author: Lianne Chia & Charmaine Tan

SINGAPORE: Throwing recyclable waste in the blue recycling bin at every public housing block, or down the centralised recycling chutes, could be almost second nature to some Singaporeans. But could it be an exercise in vain, particularly when it comes to plastics? According to the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), Singapore uses about 1.76 billion plastic items each year: 820 million plastic bags, 467 million polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and 473 million plastic disposables, such as containers, cutlery and cups.

Author: Paul Sanderson

There was a flurry of activity for some paper grades, and metals were up too. But plastics continued to struggle this week. But it is generally the case that market participants are waiting for the next couple of weeks to end before they feel they can gauge what is going on once the summer holidays are over. European markets were tough before the summer period, but there has been very little that has improved on that since.

Author: Reuters

FOUNEX, Switzerland Aug 25 (Reuters) - Lake Geneva, nestled at the foot of the Alps, has long been considered as a near-pristine body of water, but new research has found that its plastic pollution levels are as high as those in the oceans. Oceaneye, a Geneva-based non-profit that has for more than a decade been scouring the seas to collect plastic fragments, has turned its attention closer to home to landlocked Switzerland. "We compared the levels with the ocean data and reached the conclusion that the microplastic pollution on the lake surface is the same order of magnitude as the oceans," said Pascal Hagmann, the founder and director of Oceaneye.

Author: Reuters

KAMPALA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has banned the importation of used clothing into the east African country, saying it stifles the development of local textile industries and that the clothes belonged to dead Westerners. Like most African countries, Uganda has traditionally imported large quantities of used clothing, which some consumers prefer because it is low-cost. But local manufacturers complain the dumping of second-hand apparel swamps the market, undermining Uganda's ability to climb the value chain of the cotton and textile industry.

Author: Emer Moreau

IRELAND’S RECYCLING RATE has fallen by four per cent in a year, with the level of plastics recycling still significantly behind 2025 targets. New figures published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that there are high levels of glass (84%) and paper/cardboard (73%) recycling, but plastic is more frequently thrown out.

Author: Caroline O'Doherty

More plastics than ever are being disposed of by incineration as Ireland’s recycling efforts dip. Just 28pc of plastic bottles, containers and wrappings are recycled according to the latest data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The remaining 72pc – almost 350,000 tonnes of plastic - is burned in incinerators along with non-recyclable waste, and that figure is growing. “Plastics present a serious challenge,” the EPA warned.

Author: Jared Paben

Recycled plastics prices are at their lowest levels in some time, putting significant strain on material processors. Meanwhile, some resin buyers are abandoning PCR to purchase virgin plastic instead.  The lower prices can be seen in the scrap bale market and, to varying degrees, in the recycled resin market. 

Author: MRW Reporter

The plastic packaging tax raised more than £40m more than expected during its first financial year, raising £276m for the Treasury. Data from HM Revenue & Customs has shown that, as of 8 August, there were 4,142 businesses registered for the tax, which is levied on manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging components which contain less than 30% recycled plastic.

Author: Jessica Roy

The goals of

Senate Bill 270, the so-called plastic bag ban, spoke to the “three Rs” of waste reduction: Reduce the number of plastic bags Californians use, reuse the ones they receive, and recycle them once their useful life has ceased (the bags, not the Californians). The thin plastic bags that used to line every bathroom trash can and litter box in California were and are made of low-density polyethylene, or LDPE. More than 30billion of those single-use plastic carryout bags used to be distributed across California every year.

Author: Pat Rizzuto

EPA regulations to control health risks from chemicals made with waste plastic are colliding against concerns about greenwashing and desires to protect people who could disproportionately face injuries. Trade associations, 15 Democratic attorneys general, and environmental groups have recently submitted comments criticizing a package of regulations (RIN: 2070-AB27) that the Environmental Protection Agency proposed in June.

Author: Paul Sanderson

Exports were up in June 2023 reaching 25,351 tonnes compared to 23,031 tonnes in May. Incredibly, this made it the best month since April 2021 when 47,850 tonnes was exported. Although EU exports were broadly stable, there was an increase to Turkey, Malaysia and Vietnam that helped the growth.

Author: Jared Paben

Exports of recovered plastics fell during the first six months of 2023, newly released federal trade statistics show. The Census Bureau recently published data for June exports, allowing Plastics Recycling Update to compare statistics from the first half of 2023 to those from the prior year.

Author: Paula Santos Ferreira

A town near Luxembourg’s border with France has been accumulating tonnes of illegal waste for the past four years, a pressure group has said, echoing previous concerns from locals that polluters from the Grand Duchy and Belgium nip across the border to dispose of unwanted stuff. More than 250 tonnes of industrial waste, household waste and rubble have been dumped at Redange since 2019, just a few kilometres from Belval, the citizens' rights group “Colletif citoyen: j'aime la forêt” told media outlet Contacto last week.

Author: Exxon KNews

The eyes of the world are on Maui, now the site of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. As of this writing, nearly 100 people have been killed in the fires — but officials fear that number will likely be much higher in the coming days. For years, Maui officials have been sounding the alarm about the impact of climate change on their communities and fighting in court to hold polluters accountable for making such devastation all the more likely.

Author: Okechukwu Nnodim

The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, an international network working towards a waste-free world without incineration, has called on the Nigerian government to ban single-use plastics in order to effectively reduce the rise in plastic pollution. It made the call in Abuja during the INC-2 stakeholders engagement workshop that involved the Federal Ministry of Environment and operators in the sector. INC is the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution under the United Nations Environment Programme. Its focus is to help manage the full life cycle of plastics, including their production, design and disposal.