The Perils of PVC Plastic Pipes
All types of water pipes, not only lead, can release chemicals into drinking water. Plastic pipes, which are constructed from potentially dozens of different chemicals, release more contaminants into drinking water than unlined metal pipes, which are built of few materials. Communities need to understand the potential health risks associated with different water pipe materials so that they do not end up with what’s known as a “regrettable substitution,” or a situation in which a selected alternative turns out to be just as bad, if not worse, as the original option.
PVC Poison Plastic
Every day, PVC production exposes communities around the country to vinyl chloride and other PVC chemicals, a result of the inadequate U.S. regulatory system that allows the use of the most hazardous chemicals and plastics. This investigation uncovers the largest polluters of vinyl chloride in the U.S. and maps the communities regularly exposed to this dangerous chemical and its waste products.
The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health
The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health has produced an extensive analysis of the plastics’ negative impacts on: i) human health and well-being focusing on vulnerable populations, ii) on the global environment focusing on ocean health, and iii) the economy. The report includes highly valuable sustainable solutions that can be implemented by governments and industries to minimize the negative consequences of global plastic contamination This is an urgent problem that must be addressed in the worldwide agenda in parallel to climate change, as they are closely interconnected.
The Cost of Amazon’s Plastic Denial on the World’s Oceans
For the third year, Oceana analyzed e-commerce packaging data and found that Amazon generated 709 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2021. This is a 18% increase of Oceana’s 2020 estimate of 599 million pounds and is enough plastic to circle the Earth more than 800 times in the form of air pillows. Oceana found, based on data from a peer-reviewed study on plastic waste pollution published in Science in 2020, that up to 26 million pounds of this plastic waste will end up in the world’s waterways and seas.
Plastic Waste Management Hazards: Waste-To-Energy, Chemical recycling, and plastic Fuels
With petrochemical companies avoiding fossil fuel carbon liabilities by massively increasing plastic production, the amount of plastic waste generated is set to climb dramatically. This report examines the current and emerging methods by which plastic waste is managed globally and questions whether any of them present a solution to the rapidly accelerating generation of plastic waste.
Talking Trash: The Corporate Playbook of False Solutions to the Plastic Crisis
This report investigates industry tactics in the face of an unprecedented plastic pollution crisis and growing public pressure to address it.
Plastic’s Toxic Additives and The Circular Economy
This Plastic’s Toxic Additives and the Circular Economy publication describes a number of general issues concerning the problems associated with plastics and the obstacles to adopting a circular economy approach, and focuses in particular on the problems related to chemical additives.
All Talk and No Recycling: An Investigation of the U.S. 'Chemical Recycling' Industry
This report provides an assessment of failed, proposed, and existing projects in the United States and demonstrates that the industry is once again proposing to build a new network of waste and burn facilities. Under the guise of “chemical” or “advanced” recycling, the industry is lobbying for and advancing development of plastic-to-fuel (PTF) facilities that will only make the plastic crisis worse while diverting public and private investment dollars away from real solutions.
Plastic Atlas Second Edition: Facts & Figures About the World Of Synthetic Polymers
The Plastic Atlas has the hard facts, data and figures to prove that the story of plastic that industry is telling us is a myth. We need urgent and drastic reductions in plastic production, consumption and regulation at the local, national and global levels that tackle plastic pollution at the source.
Packaging Away the Planet: U.S. Grocery Retailers and the Plastic Pollution Crisis
This assessment should serve as a baseline measurement of U.S. retailers’ sustainability performance on single-use plastics. All retailers profiled in this report received failing scores, indicating how much work is needed to urgently address the plastic pollution crisis.