Air, water, soil, food and even blood – microplastics have found their way virtually everywhere on Earth, and now that list includes clouds. Bits of plastic particles were recently discovered above eastern China, with new research showing that these microplastics could influence cloud formation and the weather. A group of scientists from Shandong University in …
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In September 1993, during a beach clean on the Isle of Man, Richard Thompson noticed thousands of multicoloured fragments at his feet, looking like sand. While his colleagues filled sacks with crisp packets, fishing rope, plastic bags and bottles, Thompson became transfixed by the particles. They were so tiny that they did not fit any …
Continue reading “‘We can’t carry on’: the godfather of microplastics on how to stop them”
Government delegations will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out details of what could be the first global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. A key focus for the discussions on Monday will be whether targets to restrict plastic production should be decided unilaterally or whether states should choose their own targets; this is, …
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A type of zooplankton found in marine and fresh water can ingest and break down microplastics, scientists have discovered. But rather than providing a solution to the threat plastics pose to aquatic life, the tiny creatures known as rotifers could be accelerating the risk by splitting the particles into thousands of smaller and potentially more …
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Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown. At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund. If the trend continues unabated, the region …
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Big drinks companies are misleading customers with claims that their plastic water bottles are fully recycled or recyclable, according to consumer groups who have issued a formal complaint to the European Commission. The Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) said claims that water bottles from brands owned by Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestlé are “100% …
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Anglers in Venezuela have been raking up oil spills and collecting plastic waste from Lake Maracaibo to try to save the lake that sustains their livelihoods. President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the implementation of a “rescue, attention and decontamination” plan for the 13,000 sq km lake, one of South America’s largest and one of the …
Microplastics have been found everywhere from the oceans’ depths to the Antarctic ice, and now new research has detected it in an alarming new location – clouds hanging atop two Japanese mountains. The clouds around Japan’s Mount Fuji and Mount Oyama contain concerning levels of the tiny plastic bits, and highlight how the pollution can …
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Lego has stopped a project to make bricks from recycled drinks bottles instead of oil-based plastic, saying it would have led to higher carbon emissions over the product’s lifetime. The move, first reported by the Financial Times, followed efforts by the world’s largest toymaker to research more sustainable materials, as part of a wave of …
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A south-east Queensland plastics spill in which 40,000 small discs were flushed into the ocean could threaten birds and marine life for years to come, an expert says, amid criticism of CSIRO’s handling of the breach. A CSIRO spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that 40 litres of plastics known as biomedia were accidentally discharged from the …
