In March 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly committed to addressing the ever-growing threat of plastic pollution and established the Global Plastics Treaty. The treaty aims to regulate the full lifecycle of plastic from production to disposal. This includes regulation of the most harmful marine plastic pollution: Abandoned, Lost, or Discarded Fishing and aquaculture Gear (ALDFG).  It is estimated that over 11000 tonnes of ALDFG enters European seas annually, the m

The United Nations is currently tackling a global crisis: ghost gear .  Ghost gear is plastic fishing or aquaculture gear that is abandoned, lost or discarded and it is the most damaging source of marine pollution in the ocean . Why ghost gear is so harmful  Every year, 2% of ghost gear ends up in the ocean due to extreme weather, tangled on the seabed or simply thrown away. Ghost gear does more than just pollute; it harms protected or endangered marine life, it damages the

We have normalised plastic. We wrap food in it, we drink from it, it sits in every supply chain. Yet the numbers are astonishing. Production has jumped from two million tonnes in 1950 to four hundred and seventy five million tonnes today. Without intervention the world is on track to pass one point two billion tonnes by 2060. Almost all plastic begins as fossil carbon. This links plastic to climate at the root. And less than ten per cent is recycled. The rest accumulates in s

Sustainability means using resources that we can continue using in the long-term without causing irreversible harm to the environment. ...

Every day, we’re surrounded by plastic—it's in our homes, streets, and oceans. The global community has recognized the need for a change,...

In April 2024, Coca-Cola, the largest beverage manufacturer in the world, launched an eye-catching campaign titled ‘ Recycle Me ’ in...

Environmental and economic arguments for reuse Too often conflated with recycling, reuse involves multiple circulations of reusable...

It is not uncommon to see images or videos online of turtles trapped in plastic six-pack rings or with plastic straws stuck up their...

A recent study by the University of Strathclyde reveals that alarming amounts of microplastics are being produced by an unnamed plastics...

Increasingly microplastics are finding their way into our wastewater, and whilst the fact that this may lead to plastics in our oceans is...

History – How Plastics came to being Do you know how we went from a race to win a ten-thousand-dollar reward to a full blown  plastic...

If you are thinking of heading out on your daily run, walk or hike, have a read of how the chemicals in your clothing could be affecting...

Poisoning. Dismemberment. Disease. It sounds like a horror film in the making. But this is the reality faced by many beneath the ocean’s sur

Many objects describe themselves as being recyclable or compostable. For example, take-away coffee cups, which at first sight seem to...

Plastic waste is mostly recycled mechanically – shredded, melted and shaped into new products. The UN has stated: 'chemical recycling...

Despite its 'pristine' public image, Switzerland’s environmental record turns out to have more holes than one of its famous cheeses....

'Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.' Espen Barth Eide, Minister...

The massive influx of plastic waste into our oceans is one of the most significant environmental crises currently impacting global...

France recently passed a groundbreaking law requiring all new washing machines sold in France to have filters that capture plastic...

Tyres are the second largest source of ocean microplastics, and new research has identified them as the source of a lethal toxin that’s...