Environment

The case studies reveal that countries are unable to handle large volumes of diverse plastics waste streams safely, and the reality that, without regulations requiring plastic ingredients to be labeled, countries are blindly allowing known toxic chemicals onto their markets in plastic products.

The report reveals how Australia’s new waste policies are driving massive investment in plastic waste-to-fuel processing, and that the country’s exports are threatening waste management in ASEAN countries. This is despite the country announcing it would stop exporting unprocessed wastes in 2020, after China and other Southeast Asian countries banned plastic waste imports.

A new report from Alaska Community Action on Toxics and IPEN finds that chemicals, plastics, and climate change are interrelated and threaten Arctic Peoples and lands. These forces have combined to poison lands, waters, and traditional foods of Arctic Indigenous Peoples, with ongoing health effects that threaten their cultures and communities.

Research from IPEN and BAN reveals dire human exposure and food chain contamination from highly toxic plastics in waste in Ghana, including toxic recycled e-waste shipped from Europe.

Report on the toxic threats from waste incinerator ash that, which is generated at a rate of millions of tons every year includes analysis of global scale of toxic ash and other residues from waste incineration contain dioxins, furans (PCDD/Fs) and a range of other highly toxic POPs at levels which are a threat to human health and the environment.

The toxic industrial chemical short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are primarily used in metalworking, but also used in plastic products as flame retardants and softeners. A survey of children’s products in 10 countries reveals widespread contamination with SCCPs.

Both the African environment and the human health of Africans suffer from toxic chemicals and imported wastes more than in developed countries. Africa has become the destination of illegal toxic waste exports and, as this study shows, toxic chemicals are also present in toys, kitchen utensils, and other consumer products sold at African markets.

This executive summary combines IPEN's two new reports on the chemicals in plastic pellets that endanger human health and the environment — "Plastic pellets found on beaches all over the world contain toxic chemicals" and "Widespread chemical contamination of recycled plastic pellets globally", in which we investigated chemicals in pellets made from recycled waste plastics.

Almost all plastics contain toxic chemicals that are not removed during recycling but are carried over to the new products, and the recycling process can even generate new toxic chemicals such as dioxins. The increased recycling is intended to contribute to a so-called circular economy, but plastics containing toxic chemicals should not be recycled. Instead, they should be considered non-circular materials.

Plastic pellets, or nurdles, are used to make plastic products but are often lost during production, transportation, and storage. They can carry many different chemicals, both those intentionally added and pollutants that attach to the plastics in the environment. Some of these chemicals are especially concerning since they are known to have several negative effects on human health and the environment.