Info Hub Plastic Published: 8 January 2024 Information Hub Are you interested in understanding the plastic crisis and its solutions? ▶ Delve deeper into our comprehensive information hub on plastic, gathering vital data and facts for everyone committed to combatting this global challenge.
Plastic Waste Published: 6 January 2024 Background Plastic waste is the most visible problem of our plastic crisis. Whether in rivers, on land, or in the ocean, enormous amounts of plastic waste are already polluting the entire planet.
Thailand’s Plastic Waste Conundrum Published: 16 November 2021 Analysis Despite the Thai government’s ban of four more types of single-use plastics in 2022, up to 250,000 tonnes of imported plastic waste from other nations continues to flow into the country annually through the international plastic waste trade. Thailand is trying to stay the course with further efforts to mitigate plastic pollution, but there are still challenges in waste sorting and collection on the ground. By Pratch Rujivanarom
Tackling Asia’s Plastic Pollution Published: 4 June 2021 Community-based organizations and grassroots-led initiatives across Asia are addressing the growing threat of plastics pollution. Governments must now enact and properly implement policies and regulations to scale up these bottom-up efforts and hold plastics producers accountable. By Jed Alegado, Clemens Kunze and Kevin Li
The Myth of Good Plastic Published: 21 January 2021 Essay Plastic is a material that used to be a symbol of progress and modernity. Now it represents an industry that subordinates everything to profit, even if the world is ruined in the process. By Barbara Unmüßig
Why the Plastic Crisis Matters Published: 6 November 2019 Article The plastic crisis is not just about what ends up in the ocean; it is about whether we are capable of achieving a sustainable existence on this planet. By Lili Fuhr and Froilan Grate
Regulation: Solutions at the wrong end Published: 4 November 2019 Plastic Atlas There is no lack of agreements and initiatives to manage the plastic crisis. But almost all address waste disposal only; they are not coordinated with each other, and they absolve manufacturers of their responsibilities. By Linda Mederake, Stephan Gürtler and Doris Knoblauch
Waste Exports: The rubbish dump is closed Published: 4 November 2019 Plastic Atlas What to do with your unwanted plastic bottles and bags? Simple: send them somewhere else. Until recently, much of the developed world’s hard-to-recycle waste was shipped off to China. That is no longer an option. By Claire Arkin
Zero Waste: Stopping the problem at the source Published: 4 November 2019 Plastic Atlas Recycling alone cannot solve the plastic crisis. New ideas are needed that tackle the roots of the problem. A growing movement is showing how that can work - and a few pioneering cities and towns are blazing the trail. By Esra Tat
Corporations: Blaming the consumer Published: 4 November 2019 Plastic Atlas Masters in lobbying, petrochemicals firms and plastic producers focus attention on waste management and recycling so they can evade their responsibility for the true problem: the growth in the volume of plastics being made. By Jane Patton
Climate Change: Not green, but greenhouse Published: 4 November 2019 Plastic Atlas Plastics are sometimes seen as environmentally friendlier than other materials - not least because of their light weight. But the plastics boom is pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. By Steven Feit and Carroll Muffett
History: Breakthrough in three letters Published: 31 October 2019 Plastic Atlas The first plastics imitated ivory and silk and attracted just a limited market. Things took off after World War II with the rise of PVC. Cheap plastics soon conquered the world. By Alexandra Caterbow and Olga Speranskaya
Tyranny of the Minority Slows International Progress on Addressing Plastic Pollution Published: 15 March 2019 At the 4th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-4), member states of the UN Environment Programme failed to meet expectations to confront the ever-growing plastic-pollution crisis threatening our waterways, ecosystems, and health.
The Microplastic Problem Published: 2 June 2017 Beaches littered with plastic garbage, seabirds strangled by bits of plastic – these images are ubiquitous today. Yet we also see photos of people cleaning beaches and hear about plans for purifying the ocean. Are things actually improving?
Toward a Global Treaty on Plastic Waste Published: 23 May 2017 Plastic pollution is a defining problem of our time - and one entirely of our own making. But how do we solve it? This article proposes a possible solution: a comprehensive, binding, and forward-looking global plastics treaty. By Lili Fuhr and Nils Simon
Guanabara: the river that runs through our village Published: 28 July 2016 Thanks to superficial cleaning measures plastic waste will probably not disturb the Olympic Sailing Competitions in the Guanabara Bay. A long-term restoration of the bay, however, stays indispensable as Emanuel Alencar illustrates in this article. By Emanuel Alencar