Commentary / World Apr 3, 2019
No silver bullet for China's plastics problem
by Adam Minter
The country could make biodegradable products mainstream, but that won't stop its trash from choking the oceans.
NEWSWORTHY
Editorials Feb 26, 2019
On a per-capita basis Japan is second only to the U.S. in the annual output of plastic waste.
National | VIEW FROM OSAKA Jan 20, 2019
by Eric Johnston
International concern over the environmental damage done by the use of plastic in various forms is now the topic of political and economic discussions across the planet. Dealing with plastic waste, especially in the ocean, is one of the long-term issues that Japan has ...
National | VIEW FROM OSAKA Oct 20, 2018
For Kyoto, a chance to lead Japan in fight against food loss
by Eric Johnston
Compared with constitutional revision, the economy, celebrity gossip and pontificating (if not panicking) over geopolitical changes in East Asia and Japan's role in those changes, Japan's mainstream media and politicians had, until recently, given environmental issues less attention. Suddenly, though, the environment is back on ...
National Oct 18, 2018
Many local governments are struggling to cope after China banned such materials in 2017 out of concern over environmental pollution.
Editorials Jun 23, 2018
Japanese businesses and consumers should strive to reduce plastic waste by cutting back on the use of disposable plastic products.
Commentary / World Jun 23, 2018
Trendy bans on plastic straws are bunk
by Adam Minter
Skipping straws may be hip. But there are much better ways to fight pollution.
Commentary / Japan May 30, 2018
China's waste ban is a wake-up call for Japan
by Leticia Sarmento Dos Muchangos
Tokyo can adopt solid resource management principles to help stem the rising tide of plastic.
Asia Pacific / Science & Health Jan 26, 2018
Billions of bits of plastic waste are entangled in corals and sickening reefs from Thailand to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, scientists said on Thursday. The trash is another pressure on corals, already suffering from overfishing, rising temperatures caused by climate change and other pollution. In the ...
World / Science & Health Apr 20, 2017
Arctic seas called dead end for plastic waste floating from U.S., Europe
The Arctic is a dead end for floating plastic waste dumped in the Atlantic Ocean off Europe and the United States and swept north by ocean currents to a polar graveyard, scientists said on Wednesday. Levels of plastic found east of Greenland and in the ...