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+13 +1
Where unsellable wine goes to die and become fuel for your car’s gas tank
In the wine industry, when your product outweighs your demand, there are few ways to legally dispose of it. By John Capone.
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+14 +1
Ocean plastic a 'planetary crisis'
Life in the seas risks irreparable damage from a rising tide of plastic waste, the UN oceans chief has warned. Lisa Svensson said governments, firms and individual people must act far more quickly to halt plastic pollution. "This is a planetary crisis," she said. "In a few short decades since we discovered the convenience of plastics, we are ruining the ecosystem of the ocean."
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+20 +1
Mountains of US recycling pile up as China restricts imports
Much of the world's recycling gets shipped to China for processing. But starting Jan. 1, China is enacting much tougher standards for the purity of recycling imports, standards most American, and European, recyclers simply can't meet. And that has recycling piling up throughout the United States.
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+21 +1
Plastics Pile Up as China Refuses to Take the West’s Recycling
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.
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+6 +1
McDonald's to drop foam packaging by year's end
McDonald’s will stop using plastic foam cups, which keep drinks icy cold but make environmentalists red hot, by the end of this year. The world’s largest restaurant operator quietly disclosed the decision on its website, along with its plan to use recycled and certified sources for all of its fiber-based packaging by 2020.
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+35 +1
No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore
For decades, the donation bin has offered consumers in rich countries a guilt-free way to unload their old clothing. In a virtuous and profitable cycle, a global network of traders would collect these garments, grade them, and transport them around the world to be recycled, worn again, or turned into rags and stuffing. Now that cycle is breaking down. Fashion trends are accelerating, new clothes are becoming as cheap as used ones...
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+27 +1
EU declares war on plastic waste
Brussels targets single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030
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+10 +1
McDonald's Just Made a Stunning Announcement That Will Completely Change the Future of Fast Food
In the United States alone, McDonald's sells more than 1 billion pounds of beef and more than 500 million cups of coffee each year. While I don't eat at McDonald's very often anymore (the few times I eat a burger in any given year, my place of choice is In-N-Out), I have unwrapped plenty of Quarter Pounders with Cheese, Egg McMuffins, and other delectable McTreats in my time.
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+19 +1
High School Student Nicknamed ‘Trash Girl’ by Bullies Refuses to Stop Collecting Litter
Many people may not want to think about our plastic pollution problem, but it’s imperative that we do. Every year, we produce 300 million tons of plastic and around 8.8 million tons of it get dumped in the oceans, threatening countless animals, many of which are on the verge of extinction as a result. If that wasn’t bad enough, it’s now estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
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+28 +1
Can we fix it? The repair cafes waging war on throwaway culture
When fixing items is actively discouraged by manufacturers, recycling becomes a political act, say Repair Cafe volunteers
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+18 +1
Co-op to replace clear bottles with 'cloudy' versions made of 50% recycled plastic
A UK supermarket has said it will ditch clear plastic and switch all its water bottles to a “cloudier” part-recycled material, which could prevent 350 tonnes of waste a year. The Co-op has unveiled plans to sell all of its water in 50 per cent recycled plastic packaging which will appear slightly greyer - a “badge of honour” to eco-conscious consumers.
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+18 +1
There is a way to a plastic-free life, but those who do it offer a word of caution
The message from people who are attempting to go without single-use plastics is that it is easier than it seems — and they say people should not try to cut them out completely in one go.
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+12 +1
Single-use plastics could be banned in England next year
Cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other single-use plastics could be banned from sale in England next year in the next phase of the campaign to try to halt the pollution of the world’s rivers and oceans. Theresa May hopes to use the announcement to encourage the Commonwealth heads of government to join the fight as the meeting opens formally on Thursday. “The Commonwealth is a unique organisation with a huge diversity of wildlife, and environments – so it is vital we act now,” the prime minister will say, urging all Commonwealth countries to participate.
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+17 +1
The Revolutionary Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is About To Set Sail
On a Wednesday afternoon in a sprawling lot on a former naval air station in Alameda, California, across the bay from San Francisco, workers are welding a massive black tube together. The tube–roughly the length of a football field–is one piece of a larger system that will set sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this summer, where it will begin collecting some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic trash brought there by ocean currents.
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+5 +1
'Infinitely' recyclable polymer shows practical properties of plastics
The world fell in love with plastics because they’re cheap, convenient, lightweight and long-lasting. For these same reasons, plastics are now trashing the Earth. Colorado State University chemists have announced in the journal Science another major step toward waste-free, sustainable materials that could one day compete with conventional plastics. Led by Eugene Chen, professor in the Department of Chemistry...
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+16 +1
These festivals will only sell water in cans this year to reduce plastic use
Bestival, and it’s family-friendly sister festival Camp Bestival, have confirmed that water will only be available in cans at this year’s events. As members of the Association of Independent Festivals, the two events at Lulworth Castle are pledged to eliminate all single-use plastic by 2021. The ban stretches as far as glitter and cable ties, so it’s no surprise to see festivals start tackling plastic bottles this summer.
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+6 +1
This New Educational VR App Teaches Kids About Recycling
A new educational VR app teaches kids in Australia all about recycling, teleporting them to a special facility in Hume with interactive games.
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+35 +1
Recycling, Once Embraced by Businesses and Environmentalists, Now Under Siege
The U.S. recycling industry is breaking down as prices for scrap paper and plastic have collapsed.
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+16 +1
New labelling helps UK shoppers avoid plastic packaging
Iceland is among the first supermarkets to introduce the new ‘trust mark’ that shows shoppers which food packaging has no hidden plastic in it. A new plastic-free “trust mark” is being introduced today, allowing shoppers to see at a glance whether products use plastic in their packaging. The label will be prominently displayed on food and drink products, making it easier for consumers to choose greener alternatives. UK supermarket Iceland and Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza - which introduced plastic-free aisles earlier this year – will start using the new labelling, alongside Teapigs teabags, but campaigners hope others will follow suit.
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+11 +1
New 'plastic tax' planned by ministers to drive use of unrecyclable material out of existence
Firms who package goods in unrecyclable plastic will be hit with massive costs under plans to drive its use “out of existence”, The Independent can reveal. Whitehall insiders believe the proposal – effectively a tax on non-reusable plastic – will have a greater impact on the government’s drive to abolish all plastic waste by 2042 than any other measure. A source close to the proposal told The Independent it would make the cost of using unrecyclable plastics “so exorbitantly high” that companies would simply conclude they are no longer worth it.
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