Category "Politics"

The amount of paper and cardboard packaging now recycled in Europe has reached a record high, according to figures released by the European Union ahead of Global Recycling Day.

It’s been more than five years since then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed banning foam products in New York City — and the ban finally went into effect on the first of the year.

Retailers and producers of packaging will be forced to pay the full cost of collecting and recycling it under the government’s new waste strategy.

Imports of 16 types of solid waste, including compressed car scraps and scrapped ships, will be banned from Dec 31, and another 16 types will be banned from the end of next year. China will completely stop importing solid waste by the end of 2020.

The move could be introduced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove as early as this week.

The rise of bio based products, packaging in particular, is challenging our established recycling process since those systems aren’t able to recognise the difference between Bioplastics and petroleum based plastics.

Making all plastic packages recyclable by 2030 is among the goals of a new strategy the European Parliament is examining. The new measures will help European countries reduce the amount of plastic waste they still produce and limit its devastating impact on our environment, climate, health and economy.

These slides provide a global overview of plastics production, waste, and pollution of our oceans. They are designed to provide a summary of the plastics challenge and what this tells us about how to address it.

Products that don't use recycled plastic will cost 10 percent more in the future, according to a government plan. The proposed initiative is one part of a series of measures to get the country to recycle all its plastic.

Since the 1980s, about half of the world’s recyclable plastics, paper and scrap metals have been absorbed by China to meet its insatiable demand for resources.