plastics

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s emergency interim directive ordering the petrochemical industry in southern Ontario to clean up its act has been extended for two years.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has issued an emergency interim order to the petrochemical industry in southern Ontario, home of Canada’s Chemical Valley, following consultations with the local First Nation about declining air quality.

Rapid global warming due to greenhouse gases linked to fossil fuels is causing the region to warm at about four times the global average. This increases the speed of plastics travelling from other regions in the world.

A recent report by the non-profit Center for Climate Integrity chronicles a “decades-long campaign of fraud and deception” from Big Oil and the plastics industry to promote recycling as a solution to the plastic pollution crisis.

Phthalate exposure is just one way the plastics industry externalizes harm. Its products are made from fossil fuels, and making them releases billions of tons of greenhouse gas every year — not to mention toxic air and water emissions.

Canadians are allowing conservative politicians to lead us into an uncertain future as precious time ticks away on our ability to reverse the devastating trend toward an overheated planet.

The decision on Nov. 16 said Ottawa had overstepped by labelling all "plastic manufactured items" as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

The federal government's ban on plastic straws and grocery bags is in question after the Federal Court ruled Ottawa had overstepped its bounds in designating all "plastic manufactured items" as toxic.

The first complete "scientific health check" shows most global systems are beyond the stable range in which modern civilization emerged.

In a world facing widespread water shortages, rising emissions and escalating inequity, becoming mindful about our fashion choices is seen as a moral imperative by more and more of us each year, says Marley Alles, who started a clothing rental company.

Researchers sampled 19 strains of bacteria and 15 of fungi growing on free-lying or intentionally buried plastic kept in the ground for one year in Greenland, Svalbard and Switzerland in a potential breakthrough for recycling.

Natural History Museum scientists say plasticosis, which scars the digestive tract, is likely to affect other types of birds, too.

Simple things like washing festive plastic knitwear on the gentle cycle can reduce microfibre shedding by 70 per cent and better protect marine ecosystems, a recent Ocean Wise study shows.

Most plastics marketed as “home compostable” don’t actually work, with as much as 60 per cent failing to disintegrate after six months, according to new research.

It is time to shift our lens and bring into focus that our society’s plastic addiction has become a matter of life and death.