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48758842257_1f2ee7e507_k.jpg Drug-resistant infections remain a top global public health threat, leading to around 5 million deaths worldwide each year. Recent research suggests that microplastic pollution is accelerating the development of resistant bacteria. Image by DFID – UK Department for International Development via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Microplastic pollution can fuel rise in antibiotic resistance, studies find

Claire Asher 8 Jul 2026
Community members collect plastic waste during a beach cleanup organized by COMRED on Kenya’s coast. Image courtesy of COMRED.

‘The only possible transition is a just transition’: Interview with WEF’s Clemence Schmid

Jackson Ambole Okata 7 Jul 2026
INC Vice Chair Johanna Lissinger-Peitz, Sweden, passes the gavel to new INC Chair Julio Cordano, Chile, in February 2026.

With plastic treaty in limbo, Mongabay speaks to top negotiator Julio Cordano

Charles Pekow 18 Jun 2026
Plastic bottles and debris blanket the shoreline in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, on March 10, 2022. Image by AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph.

Plastic food packaging blankets the world’s coastlines, study finds

Ashley Yeong 15 Jun 2026

Sri Lanka bans single-use plastic bottles at government events, charges for plastic bags

Malaka Rodrigo 8 Jun 2026
A Venezuela snouted treefrog. Image by Taucce et al., 2022, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Study finds microplastics in tadpoles in the Amazon for the first time

David Brown 5 May 2026
Tierney Thys with sunfish. Photo by Mike Johnson / Earth Window

Tierney Thys, marine biologist and interpreter of the sunfish

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 May 2026
Cattle forage through plastic and household waste at an open dumping site in Jaigaon. Image by Chandrani Sinha.

Indian border town adjacent to Bhutan is reeling from riverbed pollution

Mongabay.com 10 Apr 2026
Fishers in Dunga on the shores of Lake Victoria. Image by Achieng’ Otieno for Mongabay.

On the shores of Lake Victoria, a youth-led campaign to revive a wetland

Achieng’ Otieno 9 Apr 2026

Microplastics found in fish in Tuvalu, a remote South Pacific nation

David Brown 7 Apr 2026
Sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) mother and calf as seen from the air. Image by Christin Khan NOAA/NEFSC via Wikimedia. (CC BY-SA 4.0).

With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area

Victoria Schneider 31 Mar 2026
Northern gannet (Morus bassanus) nest made largely of plastic debris. Image courtesy of Martin Brogger.

Seabird nests built with plastic waste off the coast of Germany: Photo of the week

Shanna Hanbury 25 Mar 2026
Trash bags full of discarded plastic. Image by Adil Edin via Unsplash (Public domain).

Huge amounts of nanoplastics discovered in tap and bottled water

Shanna Hanbury 23 Mar 2026
Corals in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Reefs in Florida and elsewhere in the world face many threats including heat waves (which causes coral bleaching), diseases like stony coral tissue loss disease, invasive species, pollution, physical damage and more.

If Florida reefs aren’t protected, storms will increase flooding & costs: Study

Ruth Kamnitzer 12 Mar 2026
Close-up shot of a bale of compressed plastic waste.

Plastic, from home and abroad, spills into Türkiye’s waters

Guia Baggi, Utku Kuran 11 Mar 2026
Synthetic polymers like plastics take centuries to fully decompose in the environment. In contrast, natural polymers like cellulose and DNA break down completely after use. Now, researchers have taken inspiration from nature to create strong, durable plastics that break down easily at the end of a product’s life.

Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue: Study

Claire Asher 10 Mar 2026
A woman standing in a street carries a basin filled with a colourful variety of plastic bottles while in the background there are busy stalls and shoppers in the street. Image by Elliot Ovadje via Flickr.

Recycling startups test limits of private solutions to deluge of waste in Lagos

Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi 20 Feb 2026
Open burning of plastic in a community in Guiyu, China. This practice is fast becoming a common way to dispose of plastic and other waste.

Plastic household waste burned as fuel on rise in Global South, risking health

Sean Mowbray 5 Feb 2026

Malaysia bans e-waste imports, vows to end illegal dumping

Associated Press 5 Feb 2026
Judith Enck, author of The Problem with Plastic, holding a copy of the book. Image by Jerrick Mitra.

Plastic pollution requires urgent action, says author Judith Enck

Mike DiGirolamo 6 Jan 2026
Scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), photographed in Yonaguni, Japan.

Top ocean news stories of 2025 (commentary)

Alfredo Giron, Ana Spalding, Erin Skoczylas, Vanessa Constant 24 Dec 2025
Smoke rises from a coal-burning power plant. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which includes large amounts of plastics, is replacing fossil fuels in some energy and industrial furnaces. But critics say this practice is merely replacing one dirty fuel for another.

Boom in burning waste for fuel could put human health and environment at risk

Sean Mowbray 10 Dec 2025

New report warns of mounting planetary crises — and pathways to hope

David Akana 9 Dec 2025
The resulting piles of plastic after beach clean-up volunteers sifted microplastics from water and sand in Kailua Bay, a few miles south Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu. Image courtesy of: Ken G Kosada/Lethal Lens Photography.

Another threat to reefs: Microplastic chemicals may harm coral reproduction

Kari Goodbar 5 Dec 2025
Spraying pesticides on a field. Chemical pesticides have become ubiquitous in industrial agriculture, and have contributed to a rapid rise in chronic diseases, researchers say.

‘Silent epidemic of chemical pollution’ demands radical regulatory redo, say scientists

Mike Gaworecki 3 Dec 2025
Workers at BRAC's plastic project sort out single-use plastics.

New ventures set out to tackle the plastic choking Bangladesh’s ECAs

Abu Siddique 2 Dec 2025
Sorting of plastic bottles collected in Costa Rica for analysis. Photo by Juan Manuel Muñoz-Araya.

Lost at sea, found in Latin America: the journeys of discarded plastic bottles

Olivia Maule 2 Dec 2025
A turtle consumes a plastic bag.

Lethal dose of plastic for seabirds and marine animals ‘much smaller than expected’

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 19 Nov 2025
Consumed book cover

Plastic’s triumph was no accident. It built an economy addicted to throwaway living

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Oct 2025
Juruá red howler monkeys. Image courtesy of Anamélia de Souza Jesus.

Microplastics found in the stomachs of Amazon tree-dwelling monkeys

Shanna Hanbury 15 Oct 2025
A free-ranging chicken amid metal scrap in Thailand. The mismanagement of ash from incineration and metal production is another serious public health issue.

‘Alarming’ levels of toxins found in free-range eggs near dumpsites globally

Sean Mowbray 15 Oct 2025
A trash picker looks for recyclable plastics at a waste dump in Bali. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay.

Can courts combat plastic pollution? Lessons from Indonesia (commentary)

Syahriza Alkohir Anggoro 30 Sep 2025

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