EU commission considers ban on plastic packaging: media report
The EU Commission is considering setting a ban on plastic packaging and new requirements for manufacturers, said Virginijus Sinkevicius, EU Commissioner-designate for environment and the oceans, in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt. "We definitely want to expand the rules for single-use plastics and ...
Awareness of issue of plastic garbage in Japan slowly gaining steam
At a mid-December meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization and UNESCO, Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa spoke with pride about his city's successes in the area of sustainable, environmentally friendly tourism. "Since 2000, when we produced nearly 820,000 tons of household and industrial garbage, ...
Thailand began the year with a ban on single-use plastic bags at major stores, continuing a campaign launched by the government and retailers toward a complete ban in 2021 to reduce waste and debris in the sea. Public awareness of the risk to animals and ...
For centuries, Mexico City residents brought warm tortillas home in reusable cloths or woven straw baskets, and toted others foods in conical rolls of paper, "ayate" mesh or net bags, or even string bundles. People in Mexico's massive capital city may have to return to ...
Minimum charge for plastic bags at Japanese shops from July: ¥1
The government on Friday revised ordinances of four relevant ministries to oblige retailers to charge a fee for issuing plastic shopping bags from July 1. All stores in the nation, including supermarkets and convenience stores, will be subject to the rule. The move is aimed at ...
In 'Star Wars' economy, one thing doesn't pay
Junkyards and scavengers are everywhere in the series. So why do they waste so much valuable scrap?
Stores in Japan Environment Ministry building to stop handing out plastic bags
Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday that his ministry has stopped distributing plastic bags at all shops inside its government building, taking what he touted as a trailblazing step toward reducing plastic waste. Plastic bags are no longer provided at any shop within the ministry's ...
Japan's effort to reduce plastic waste by forcing retailers to charge for shopping bags has too many exemptions.
Vancouver becomes first Canadian city to ban plastic straws and bags
Vancouver voted late on Wednesday to ban the use of plastic straws and bags from April next year, making it the first major Canadian city to enact such a wide-reaching ban, according to the city. The move, aimed at cutting the use of plastic bags ...
Massive increase in concentration of microplastics seen on beach facing Japan's Ise Bay
Some 60,000 particles of microplastics per square meter — meaning one particle per 16 square millimeters — are estimated to exist at Nasanohama beach on Toshi Island in Toba, Mie Prefecture, a study by Yokkaichi University professor Satoshi Chiba has revealed. Although the beach is ...
In a first for Japan, dish liquid's bottles to use recycled marine plastic
Procter & Gamble Japan K.K. will release a dishwashing liquid in a bottle made from marine plastic waste collected from the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture. Joy Ocean Plastic will be the nation's first daily-use product to use the waste, the Kobe-based unit of U.S. consumer ...
Reusable straws catching on in Japan but yet to see popular groundswell
For some, an ocean full of plastic is the last straw. That's why a growing number of environmentally concerned restaurants in Japan are doing away with single-use plastic straws in favor of reusable silicone and stainless steel ones as a way to combat the global ...
