One Answer to America’s Recycling Problems—Make Big Brands Pay
Consumer-product makers are under pressure to pitch in as customers and lawmakers pay more attention to plastic waste
E.P.A.’s Final Deregulatory Rush Runs Into Open Staff Resistance
With two months left of the Trump administration, career E.P.A. employees find themselves where they began, in a bureaucratic battle with the agency’s political leaders. But now, with the Biden administration on the horizon, they are emboldened to stymie Mr. Trump’s goals and to do so more openly.
Brand interest in reuse rising, but it still accounts for less than 2% of plastic packaging market
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's latest progress report on where consumer goods companies stand on the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment shows substantial work ahead.
These Items in Your Home Are Harming America’s Sea Animals
A new report by Oceana, a conservation group, illustrates some of what we know about how plastic affects sea turtles and marine mammals in United States waters.
The findings offer a glimpse of a larger problem.
Activists Raise Concerns About Proposed Amendments To Coeymans Clean Air Law
Activists are sounding an alarm after the Coeymans Town Board proposed amendments to the 2019 Coeymans Clean Air Law which limits tire-burning at the Lafarge/Holcim Cement Plant, which is situated across the street from the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School on Route 9W.
California Eyeing Biden Resolution to Dozens of Trump Lawsuits
It’s no secret California and the Trump administration are often at odds—which many times has led to the courtroom. The Golden State has sued the president and his agencies 106 times over the past four years, more than any other state.
With President-elect Joe Biden (D) set to take over the White House in January, California is looking over its lingering cases.
What happens to all of those campaign signs after the election?
It's not uncommon to see political signs stand for a year after Election Day. And while the placards create plenty of visual litter, what's more concerning is the physical litter they can cause.
Wheeler announces recycling goal: 50% by 2030
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler today called on the U.S. to recycle 50% of all materials by 2030.
During EPA's third annual America Recycles Summit, Wheeler insisted recycling was a core part of his agency's duty to protect the environment.
Elections seen as sharpening focus on plastics in Washington
A key plastics industry lobbyist sees consensus within industry around waste and recycling issues opening the door to legislation in Washington. Environmental groups are optimistic a Biden administration would give more attention to policies they seek.
3 ways to dispose of campaign signs that are better than throwing them out
Throwing your campaign signs in the garbage can be harmful to the environment. We spoke to experts about the best ways to dispose of them.
Experts distrust the tap, but prefer it to bottles
There could be lead in your tap water. There could be PFAS in your bottled water. Microplastics might be in both. Do you choose neurotoxic heavy metals or carcinogenic "forever chemicals"? That's the predicament facing Americans every time they take a drink of water
Plastic bags banned in N.J. as Murphy signs new law
Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday signed a new law banning businesses from handing out single-use plastic bags, polystyrene food containers, plastic straws and paper bags in New Jersey.
The House just passed another “Save Our Seas” act. Here’s why it won’t.
Outside of Congress, the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act has faced steeper scrutiny from environmentalists who see it as an extension of decades’ worth of failed policies that assume the plastics crisis can be solved by innovating recycling and waste management…
The Plastic Pandemic: COVID-19 trashed the recycling dream
COVID-19 has hit plastic recycling, just as big oil firms are investing hundreds of billions of dollars to make new plastic. These investments massively exceed the industry’s spending to tackle plastic waste.
New Jersey Legislature Passes ‘Most Comprehensive’ Plastics Ban in the Nation
New Jersey is one step closer to passing what environmental advocates say is the strongest anti-plastic legislation in the nation.
New York to begin enforcing plastic bag ban on Oct. 19, 2020
New York state’s environmental agency will begin enforcing a ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and other retailers on Oct. 19, more than seven months after the law took effect.
NJ Legislature passes nation's toughest ban on plastic and paper bags. Here's what it does
The state Legislature passed a sweeping measure Thursday that would ban plastic bags from stores and restaurants and single-use food and drink containers made from polystyrene foam, The New York Times reported.
New Jersey Moves Closer to Restricting Single-Use Plastics
The New Jersey legislature has joined a handful of state legislatures enacting restrictions on plastic bags and polystyrene foam containers to cut back on plastic waste.
INSIGHT: Plastic Pollution Is an Environmental Justice Issue
Black people and other individuals of color are disproportionately affected by environmental harms like plastic pollution. Sarah J. Morath, an associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, argues Congress can address these inequities by enacting the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.