plastic pollution

Dumped fishing gear is biggest plastic polluter in ocean, finds report

by

via The Guardian

Lost and abandoned fishing gear which is deadly to marine life makes up the majority of large plastic pollution in the oceans, according to a report by Greenpeace.

More than 640,000 tonnes of nets, lines, pots and traps used in commercial fishing are dumped and discarded in the sea every year, the same weight as 55,000 double-decker buses.

Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/06/dumped-fishing-gear-is-biggest-plastic-polluter-in-ocean-finds-report

A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say

by

via (CNN) A huge trash-collecting system designed to clean up plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean is finally picking up plastic, its inventor announced Wednesday.The Netherlands-based nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup says its latest prototype was able to capture and hold debris ranging in size from huge, abandoned fishing gear, known as “ghost nets,” to tiny microplastics as small as 1 millimeter. Read the full story here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/tech/ocean-cleanup-catching-plastic-scn-trnd/index.html

Washing laundry on a delicate cycle releases more plastic microfibres into the ocean

by

via ScienceFocus.com

Researchers have found it is the volume of water used which is the key factor in plucking the tiny plastic particles from man-made material. Read the full story here: https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/washing-laundry-on-a-delicate-cycle-releases-more-plastic-microfibres-into-the-ocean/

It’s raining plastic: microscopic fibers fall from the sky in Rocky Mountains

by

via The Guardian

Plastic was the furthest thing from Gregory Wetherbee’s mind when he began analyzing rainwater samples collected from the Rocky Mountains. “I guess I expected to see mostly soil and mineral particles,” said the US Geological Survey researcher. Instead, he found multicolored microscopic plastic fibers.

Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/12/raining-plastic-colorado-usgs-microplastics

“Mott Haven” Film Raises Awareness About Plastics Contaminating Our Oceans

by

.

“I have been in the plastics recycling business for 30 years. The film we made, starring Robert Davi & Paul Wilson with Chuck Zito, Deborah Green and Brandi Porter, will help raise awareness to what many consider to be the #1 threat to the environment of our planet. “Mott Haven” is not a documentary but an entertaining and intense drama set in The South Bronx where the story’s protagonist is struggling to keep his life and his plastics recycling business afloat. His business, Bronx Recycling Company of Mott Haven is collecting much of the scrap plastic in New York City which otherwise might end up as pollution. We are all proud that we have created a film that is not only meaningful and exciting but also addresses a pressing environmental problem which affects all people, all over the world.” — Michael Domino, COO, Domino Plastics Company Inc.

www.motthavenfilm.com

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/

Plastic Recycling Initiatives – Waste Plastic Used as Bus Fare in Indonesia

by

In Indonesia, commuters pay for the bus with plastic waste

via AsianCorrespondent.com

RESIDENTS of Indonesia’s second largest city Surabaya can now pay for the bus in a novel way – by trading in used plastic.

The city’s mayor Tri “Risma” Rismaharini last month announced the roll out of the new Suroboyo Bus, comfortable, air-conditioned buses which are, importantly, accessible for disabled, elderly and pregnant passengers.

Read the full story here: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/05/in-indonesia-commuters-pay-for-the-bus-with-plastic-waste/

 

China’s Ban on Plastic Waste Imports

by

via The New York Times

Plastics Pile Up as China Refuses to Take the West’s Recycling

LONDON — Ever since China announced last year that it no longer wanted to be the “world’s garbage dump,” recycling about half of the globe’s plastics and paper products, Western nations have been puzzling over what to do when the ban went into effect, which it did on Jan. 1.

The answer, to date, in Britain at least, is nothing. At least one waste disposal site in London is already seeing a buildup of plastic recyclables and has had to pay to have some of it removed.

Read the full story here: https://nyti.ms/2Ezr1TE

 

 

 

Sustainability: Biodegradable Mardi Gras Beads

by

via LSU.edu

LSU Biology Sciences Professor Develops Biodegradable Mardi Gras Beads from Microalgae

BATON ROUGE – Tens of thousands of pounds of plastic Mardi Gras beads enter the environment every year. After the parades, most of the discarded beads end up in the landfill. Biologist Naohiro Kato at LSU is developing an innovative way to solve this problem by creating biodegradable Mardi Gras beads.

Read the full story here: http://www.lsu.edu/mediacenter/news/2018/02/06bio_kato_beads.php

recycle plastic
Mardi Gras 2007 Trash Cleanup By William Gunn (originally posted to Flickr as Mardi Gras 2007) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
 

 

Marine Plastic Pollution

by

Naturalist Attenborough makes dire warning of plastic pollution in world’s oceans

via CNBC

U.K. naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough has warned of the dangers of plastic in the oceans after witnessing the damage it causes while filming a new wildlife series.

Attenborough said that during the recording of the BBC’s TV series “Blue Planet II” he saw countless examples of the negative effect of plastics, according to comments in the Guardian newspaper on Sunday.

Read the story here: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/16/attenborough-makes-plastic-pollution-warning-for-worlds-oceans.html

domino-plastics-oceans-recycling copy