By Jack Kaskey (Bloomberg) -- With all those plastic-trash haters filling the Internet with images of garbage-choked oceans and demanding bans on everything from drinking straws to grocery bags, chemical companies are beginning to get alarmed. Their solution: A public pledge by the new Alliance to End Plastic Waste to spend $1 billion over five years to clean up marine … [Read more...]
Plastic Waste in the World’s Oceans Could Double by 2030, IEA Warns
By Alexander Kwiatkowski (Bloomberg) -- The International Energy Agency has a sobering warning about the health of the world’s oceans. The total amount of oceanic plastic waste is likely to more than double by 2030, and then keep getting worse, if action isn’t taken now, according to projections by the Paris-based organization in a report published … [Read more...]
Maersk Supply Service AHTS Selected to Deploy World’s First Large-Scale Ocean Plastic Cleanup System
Maersk Supply Service has signed on to support The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit that is developing technology to clean the ocean of plastic waste. For their role in the project, Maersk Supply Service will provide its AHTS, Maersk Launcher, to deploy and support the first cleanup system, known as Cleanup System 001, in the North Pacific. This will mark the start of the … [Read more...]
Solving the Ocean Plastic Crisis Starts With Asia -Opinion
By Adam Minter (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Since Jan. 1, when China stopped accepting the rich world's recyclable plastic waste, it's gotten a ton of criticism for worsening the already deep crisis of ocean plastic pollution. But China isn't the only culprit here. This is a crisis made — and growing worse — throughout developing Asia. Just eight countries in the region are … [Read more...]
China’s Ban on Plastic Trash Could Be Huge Win for U.S. Chemical Makers
By Jack Kaskey and Ann Koh (Bloomberg) -- China is upending the global plastics market. The world’s biggest user of scrap has stopped accepting shiploads of other countries’ plastic trash as it phases in a new ban. That’s bad news for the recycling industry, as China has been a major consumer of salvaged materials it processes into resin that ends up in pipe, carpets, … [Read more...]