Plastic pollution is usually pictured as something outside the body: bottles on beaches, fragments floating in oceans or waste accumulating in landfill. Increasingly, however, scientists are finding evidence of plastic somewhere much closer to home - inside us. As plastic breaks down, it forms microscopic particles known as microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics. Humans can encounter these particles through food, drinking water and the air we breathe. Researchers have no

A business' main priority is to ensure consumers continue to purchase their products. To do so, they tiptoe the line between consumer opinion and company ideals and priorities. They will alter their company or product branding, manufacturing process, or recipe to remain aligned with consumer demand. Whether these changes create the real change desired by consumers is another topic entirely. This discrepancy is the basis of “the green concept”, also known as “greenwashing”. Th

Biodegradable plastics (a type of bioplastic) have been developed to attempt to mitigate the plastic waste management problem. Plastic once produced, doesn’t just disappear. It’s either sent to landfill, incinerated, recycled (only 9% of plastic has ever been recycled), or ends up polluting the environment. Biodegradable plastics can be broken down by microorganisms into safe by-products such as water, natural gas and biomass. A big concern with biodegradable plastics is whet

From a plastic bottle to microplastic particles, told as if it happened in a single day 6:00 AM It began the workday at 6 AM: filled, capped, handed to someone in a hurry. It held water for twenty minutes, then was put down and, missing the recycling bin by a few steps, dropped into a drain instead. It is made of PET, which is a recyclable plastic engineered to resist breaking down. It is built for permanence, but used within minutes. 9:00 AM Rain carried it to a stream, the

My recent post highlighted Ghana’s plight in waste colonialism related to the textile trade. This time we focus on Chile. Chile is Latin America’s biggest consumer of clothes and, in 2022, imported around 124,000 tonnes of second-hand textiles from across the world. In the same year, it was estimated that 300 hectares in northern Chile had been contaminated by textile waste. The world’s chronic overproduction of textiles and fast fashion culture are a big part of this story.

A new symbol is showing up on cups, bottles, and return bins — and it isn’t the recycling triangle. It marks something recycling never could: proof that an item belongs to a working reuse system. A Symbol for a System, Not an Item Recycling’s triangle just means a material can theoretically be reprocessed. The new reuse symbol certifies something different: that the container sits inside a real loop — collected, washed, and redistributed, again and again — by a system built t

When we think about responding to the climate crisis, transitioning our energy systems away from oil and gas has always been clear. But what about investment in petrochemicals? Petrochemicals are fossil-fuel-derived substances – they’re used to produce a range of synthetic materials and substances, including plastics and fertilisers. Not only are they heavily reliant on fossil fuels, but they have the highest energy demand of all industrial sectors, and will likely override l

Many of us rely on ready meals to feed ourselves and our families as they’re a convenient way of eating our favourite dishes. Chowing down on these meals regularly can have an adverse effect on your health, but not in the way you might think. Though there’s conflicting evidence on exactly how much is released, a body of research is warning of the plastics that leach into the food from these containers, particularly when they’re heated in the microwave. Fatty food and acidic f

‘Bioplastic’ is a general term which includes bio-based plastics, biodegradable plastics and compostable plastics. These bioplastics have been developed with the idea of creating a more sustainable plastics system. Traditional plastics are made from non-renewable fossil fuels. In contrast, bio-based plastics (a type of bioplastic) are made in whole, or in part, from biomass e.g. sugar cane or starch. These are potentially more sustainable, as biomass is a renewable source; in

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a rotating vortex of plastic debris, now spans three times the size of France, holding an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic. That number keeps climbing not because solutions don't exist, but because the industry responsible for managing plastic waste has little financial reason to shrink it. Since 1950, the world has produced 6300 million tonnes of plastic waste. Of that, roughly 9% has been recycled; the rest was incinerated, landfille

When people picture the environmental toll of the war in Ukraine, they usually think of scorched fields, contamination, or leaking fuel depots. But a newer form of plastic pollution is spreading across the frontline, carried in on the back of the war's most iconic weapon: the drone. Both Russian and Ukrainian forces increasingly rely on fibre-optic-guided drones, which trail a physical cable back to the operator of up to 41 kilometres instead of using radio. This makes them m

Despite heavy sanctions, Russia’s war machine is still fuelled by the revenues from their oil and gas, which are the raw materials required to manufacture plastic products. While countries like the UK are no longer direct consumers, loopholes continue to allow products made from Russian oil to infiltrate the global market. Despite a drop in exports to Europe, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found that in 2024, total export revenues fell by only 5 perce

Delegations once again gathered in Nairobi this July to resume negotiations on the formation of a global plastics treaty, amid continuing disagreements on what is to be included. While some delegates reported “incredibly positive” engagement from this latest round of negotiations, several nations continue to push the proposal of a waste-only treaty, overlooking the compounding issues surrounding plastics such as chemicals and new plastics production. The exclusion of such iss

It is generally well known that microplastic particles are found all over our environment, including in the food we eat. Alarmingly, one of the biggest reasons behind that is the textile industry, the third-largest consumer of plastic, standing just behind packaging and construction. Clothing items from familiar fast-fashion brands have been found to contain plastic fibres which not only end up in landfills and oceans, but consequently in our food, seriously impacting our phy

Netflix’s documentary, The Plastic Detox, explores potential health impacts of microplastic exposure in everyday life, focusing on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and fertility. Unlike other plastic documentaries, this one gives an intimate insight into plastic’s effect on human health in their home and town, rather than on plastic pollution in the oceans. It highlights the scarily vast and extensive amount of plastic that is in our daily lives. From the minute you wake up an