Waste

This study found significant levels of toxic brominated dioxins (PBDD/Fs) in toys. These endocrine disrupting chemicals may impact hormone levels in children through dust and toys and can, for example, affect brain development, damage the immune system and fetus, or induce carcinogenesis.

The toolkit aids in understanding and translating the technical report Plastics in Healthcare into increased healthcare actions to reduce the harm caused by excessive plastic use in their facilities and strengthen healthcare professionals as advocates for national, regional and global action.

This fact sheet illustrates health care waste management, composition, segregation and prevention with graphs and visual materials.

Every single stage of the lifecycle of plastic, from the extraction of oil and gas to the disposal of plastic waste, causes harm to our environment and our health. It's time to look at the big picture. This is the life cycle of plastic-from cradle to grave.

Plastic clean-ups have proliferated in response to the growing plastic crisis. Such clean-ups may involve large-scale unsupervised methods of plastic collection that do not discriminate between aquatic life, plastic and organic matter. As a result, the rise of these plastic cleanup technologies has raised red flags in civil society and academia.

The main aim of the Zero Waste Cities Manual is to provide a practical guide for the implementation of a zero waste system that emphasises decentralisation, source segregation, resource recovery, and informal sector inclusion. The vision for a zero waste system is to minimise movement of solid waste generated to disposal sites or facilities.

The campaign pushes for ambitious and robust reuse solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. They engage with decision-makers, businesses, municipalities and the wider public to advocate for a future where reusable packaging is scaled up and robust reuse systems are put in place.

This analysis found that a 10-percentage point increase in reusable packaging by 2030 can eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups. This shift has the potential to prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering the world’s oceans and waterways.

The study shows the widespread use of and contamination by PFAS in disposable food packaging and tableware in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Promising research continues to emerge around alternative materials to single-use plastic. However, labels like “compostable” and “biodegradable” are misleading. The case study offers greater transparency around these novel materials, their behavior in the environment, and other concerns.