World Environment Day 2023: A call to action for a sustainable future

The theme for this year is ‘solutions to plastic pollution’

Simply Put: The mountain of trash

Plastic Pollution: Birds on every continent except Antarctica live amid human rubbish

While the blanket term of ‘plastic’ is used to refer to such pollution, many different materials litter the environment, like disposable masks

People eat 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic every week

Water — from both bottles and taps —, shellfish, beer and salt recorded highest plastic levels

Run-up to Ottawa: Arctic a ‘hemispheric sink’ for chemicals & plastics; 13 million people in region at risk, says report

Document calls for Just Transition framework; reconnecting with traditional values of Arctic indigenous peoples  

Japanese scientists discover plastic-eating bacteria

Ideonella sakainesis can break down PET commonly found in water bottles

Plastic pollution threatens tourism dependent Bali

While more than 80 per cent of the Indonesian Island’s economy relies on tourism, its beaches and the water are strewn with plastic

Waste pickers play a key role in the fight against plastic pollution — insights from South Africa into how their voices can be heard

South Africa’s approach to waste picker integration demonstrates how they can be protected

Look back at the decade: Plastics

Second decade of the new millenium: Anti-plastic campaign starts from the seas

Cellulose nanofibres from bagasse can help in controlled release of pesticides

This could pose as a solution to the growing problem of micro-plastic pollution

Microplastics found in Nile River’s tilapia fish: new study

This all has serious implications for human health, as people catch and eat the fish, which introduces those microplastics and associated …

Tackling marine plastic pollution

According to a 2017 study, the Odisha coast has the lowest quantity, and Goa coast has the highest quantity of beach debris

This World Oceans Day let’s talk about marine litter  

Environmental issues in the sea affect the coasts and the lands they surround & vice versa

Microplastics, now, in human stool: study

The study says consuming plastic packaged food, water allows microplastics to be ingested, & that consumers must rethink individual plastic usage

How Uttar Pradesh can avoid patchy implementation of plastic ban

Uttar Pradesh, which generates over 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, needs to take early measures to facilitate the transition

Exposing inequity & injustice of India’s single-use plastic ban

Ban targets downstream users of plastic while producers continue to operate with minimal restrictions

Microplastics help viruses survive longer in water, remain infectious: Study

The result remained the same in every wastewater treatment scenario

By laminating our oceans, we are choking life

This World Environment Day we need to pledge towards curbing our plastic use 

Where does plastic pollution go when it enters the ocean?

It’s estimated that one in three fish eaten by humans contains microplasts

Is implementation of plastic ban in various states confined to paper?

No takers for recycling of many single-use plastic products, says report

Plastic pollution: Campaigners around the world are using the courts to clean up — but manufacturers are fighting back

Governments have achieved disappointingly little so far and even the UN treaty on plastic pollution is unlikely to produce fundamental change

Microplastics, an invisible danger to human health

Indians consume 11 kg of plastic products in various forms every year, according to industry estimates

No plastic ban: What it means for India?

Here are a few suggestions on how the country can handle the plastic menace

Biodegradable film developed from whey, isabgol and lotus stem starch

It can be used to replace petroleum-based plastic packaging

How Gujarat succeeded in co-processing plastic waste in cement kilns and promoting circular economy

The state’s experience is a great example for others to follow