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Official U.S. Environmental Protection Agency visitor logs reviewed by Beyond Plastics show that 16 representatives of the plastics and fossil fuel industries — from such companies as ExxonMobil, Dow, LyondellBasell, and SABIC, as well as three representatives from the Plastics Industry Association — visited EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., over a two-day period on February 10 and 11, 2026. The visits come as the Trump administration has moved to weaken federal environmental rules, raising questions about corporate access to — and influence over — the nation's top environmental regulator.
February is Black History Month, and today, more than 250 grassroots advocates joined state legislators in calling out the environmental injustices posed by landfills and incinerators in communities of color. They gathered at a news conference at the state Capitol and urged the New York state Assembly to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA - S1464 Harckham/A1749 Glick).
Exposure to toxic chemicals commonly used in plastics is associated with a higher risk of death, according to a major peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet Planetary Health that is drawing renewed attention from public health experts and environmental advocates.
Environmental and local government officials will hold a news conference on Zoom to release new data showing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer savings in communities across New York with the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA - A1749 Glick/S1464 Harckham).
IN THE NEWS
While the Trump administration has put a pause on many proposed new tariffs, some — like the 25 percent tariff on aluminum — are still in play. Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey said that Coke may increase its use of plastic to mitigate price hikes, as it imports aluminum from Canada for its soda cans.
Microplastics have been found for the first time in human ovary follicular fluid, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous and toxic substances’ potential impact on women’s fertility. The new peer-reviewed research published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic in Salerno, Italy, and detected them in 14.
Americans are being peddled misinformation about what happens to the plastic they buy and use in their daily lives, and Maryland taxpayers have an opportunity to fight back. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued ExxonMobil for the fossil fuel company’s pollution and track record of misinformation — particularly around the recyclability of Americans’ plastics.
While other governments have brought legal action against consumer brands for their plastic pollution, California’s case is the first to target a major plastic producer for falsely promoting recycling as a solution.
This is a historic moment in the fight against plastic pollution, a crisis that has been created by companies that have known recycling was not possible for most plastics. While others have filed important suits against consumer brand companies for their pollution, like New York attorney general Letitia James’ lawsuit against PepsiCo, Bonta’s suit is the first to target a company for lying about plastic recycling’s efficacy.
Black-colored plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.
In a landmark lawsuit filed this week, the California attorney general accused ExxonMobil of “deceptively” promoting chemical recycling as a solution for the plastics crisis, citing ProPublica’s recent reporting and expanding on our findings. In June, we examined the oil giant’s claim that it had transformed discarded plastic into new fruit cups through an “advanced” chemical recycling technology called pyrolysis.


Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took the first step in designating microplastics as a priority drinking water contaminant group, adding them to the draft Sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6).