Plastic News

RSS
223 stories
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
Plastic waste in Amazonas state, Brazil. Image courtesy of Michell Mello/Fiocruz Amazônia.

First review of Amazon plastic pollution finds widespread contamination

Shanna Hanbury 29 Sep 2025

As Sri Lanka struggles with ghost nets, volunteer youth lead seabed cleanup

Malaka Rodrigo 25 Sep 2025
Johan Rockström presenting a planet boundaries talk at the 2025 Frontiers Planet Prize event in June.

Ocean acidification threatens planetary health: Interview with Johan Rockström

Julian Reingold 24 Sep 2025
Consumed book cover

Consumed by convenience: The culture of disposability

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Sep 2025
A protestor sums up INC-5.2’s failure with the slogan: “Consensus kills ambition.”

As plastics treaty talks break down, are there paths to a breakthrough?

Charles Pekow 29 Aug 2025
Waste burning in the Maldives. Open burning of plastic is a cheap way of reducing waste volume, but the practice is rife with health and environmental risks.

Global South bears growing burden of health threats from plastic burning

Mongabay.com 25 Aug 2025
A fisherman cleans the plastic waste caught in his net.

New coalition focuses on ‘reuse’ to tackle top polluter Indonesia’s plastic waste problem

Hans Nicholas Jong 21 Aug 2025
A woman collects plastic and other waste for recycling in South Africa. Less than 10% is recycled worldwide, with the rest remaining in the environment.

UN plastic treaty negotiations end in failure, again

Bobby Bascomb 15 Aug 2025

One of the world’s most polluted cities has banned single-use plastics. It’s not so easy

Associated Press 13 Aug 2025

Participants in the negotiations on plastic pollution are determined to finalize a treaty

Anne Nzouankeu 11 Aug 2025
Plastic washed up on a beach in Barcelona.

As UN plastic treaty talks face possible deadlock, what are the ways forward?

Tosca Ballerini 31 Jul 2025
Researchers Dušan Materić, left, and Helge Niemann, right, collecting water samples in the North Atlantic Ocean. Image courtesy of NIOZ.

Scientists use the ‘smell of burned plastic’ to measure nanoplastics in the ocean

Shanna Hanbury 30 Jul 2025
A barrier collects plastic waste at Kingston Harbor in Jamaica. Image courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup.

Scientists find millions of tons of nanoplastics in the North Atlantic Ocean

Shanna Hanbury 25 Jul 2025
Banner image of the Liberia-flagged vessel MSC Elsa 3 that sank on May 25 off southern India. Image courtesy of the Indian Coast Guard.

Sri Lanka hit by plastic pollution after cargo ship sinks off Indian coast

Mongabay.com 24 Jul 2025
A woman sits under a tree surrounded by dry waste in East Java.

Burning, burying and banning: Indonesia’s cities struggle to manage their garbage

Jeff Hutton 23 Jul 2025
Food served on areca leaf and other biodegradable tableware.

Bangladesh turns to nature for biodegradable plates to replace plastic ones

Mongabay.com 18 Jul 2025
A waste site near Mombasa, Kenya. Separating plastic waste from growing mountains of domestic trash is a huge hurdle facing the world’s communities.

Open burning of plastic is an escalating public health threat, say experts

Sean Mowbray 17 Jul 2025

Scientists turn plastic waste into pain medicine

Bobby Bascomb 14 Jul 2025
Following the shipwreck, plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, began washing up along Kerala’s southern beaches.

Oil and plastic pollution from shipwreck raises concerns, legal scrutiny in India

Max Martin 9 Jul 2025

Colombian waste pickers inundate iconic Bogota square with plastic bottles to protest falling wages

Associated Press 26 Jun 2025

Plastic bag bans linked to sharp decline in coastal litter, study finds

Bobby Bascomb 25 Jun 2025
Banner image of the Liberia-flagged vessel MSC Elsa 3 that sank on May 25 off southern India. Image courtesy of the Indian Coast Guard.

Twin ship disasters in India threaten widespread pollution on Sri Lankan coasts

Malaka Rodrigo 19 Jun 2025
Containers floating at the site of the shipwreck. Image by Spokesperson of the Indian Navy via X.

Cargo ship carrying ‘hazardous material’ capsizes off India coast

Mongabay.com 3 Jun 2025
Areca leaves and plates.

With areca leaves and rice bran, Bangladesh replaces single-use plastic tableware

Abu Siddique 30 May 2025
Student volunteers with trash collected during the 2024 Himalayan Cleanup campaign. Image courtesy of The Himalayan Cleanup.

F&B packaging fuels growing plastic waste crisis in Indian Himalayas: Report

Shreya Dasgupta 20 May 2025
Image of a dugong by Julien Willem via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Mozambique announces petrochemical city on sensitive Inhambane seascape

Shreya Dasgupta 8 May 2025
Banner image of marine pollution by Christian Yakubu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UN report recommends ‘deep change’ theory to address global crises

Kristine Sabillo 25 Apr 2025
Plastic pellets found on a beach in New Zealand.

New EU plastic pellet rules greeted with caution

Alex Shaw 22 Apr 2025

you're currently offline