Maryland should hold ExxonMobil responsible for plastic recycling lies | Guest Commentary
Melissa Valliant Melissa Valliant

Maryland should hold ExxonMobil responsible for plastic recycling lies | Guest Commentary

Americans are being peddled misinformation about what happens to the plastic they buy and use in their daily lives, and Maryland taxpayers have an opportunity to fight back. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued ExxonMobil for the fossil fuel company’s pollution and track record of misinformation — particularly around the recyclability of Americans’ plastics.

Read More
Challenging Big Oil’s Big Lie About Plastic Recycling
Melissa Valliant Melissa Valliant

Challenging Big Oil’s Big Lie About Plastic Recycling

This is a historic moment in the fight against plastic pollution, a crisis that has been created by companies that have known recycling was not possible for most plastics. While others have filed important suits against consumer brand companies for their pollution, like New York attorney general Letitia James’ lawsuit against PepsiCo, Bonta’s suit is the first to target a company for lying about plastic recycling’s efficacy.

Read More
ExxonMobil Accused of “Deceptively” Promoting Chemical Recycling as a Solution for the Plastics Crisis
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

ExxonMobil Accused of “Deceptively” Promoting Chemical Recycling as a Solution for the Plastics Crisis

In a landmark lawsuit filed this week, the California attorney general accused ExxonMobil of “deceptively” promoting chemical recycling as a solution for the plastics crisis, citing ProPublica’s recent reporting and expanding on our findings. In June, we examined the oil giant’s claim that it had transformed discarded plastic into new fruit cups through an “advanced” chemical recycling technology called pyrolysis.

Read More
Beyond Plastics Offers Next President Agenda to Protect Public Health and Environment
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Beyond Plastics Offers Next President Agenda to Protect Public Health and Environment

The group Beyond Plastics on Wednesday expressed hope that the next U.S. president "is up for the challenge" of reversing course on the annual plastic pollution that is currently projected to nearly double by 2040, and released a 27-point agenda to guide the winner of the November election.

"The next president of the United States should use a combination of approaches to significantly reduce the production, use, transport, and disposal of plastics for the sake of public health and the environment," reads the list of proposed priorities. "These include directives issued to federal agencies and efforts to work with Congress to introduce and pass relevant federal legislation."

Read More
Most ‘compostable’ bioplastics are anything but, says new report
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Most ‘compostable’ bioplastics are anything but, says new report

A new report from Beyond Plastics, an NGO, claims that very little of the bioplastics labeled as compostable can be composted by consumers. “Compostable” bioplastics can only be broken down in commercial compost facilities, but many of these won’t take compostable foodware and packaging because of concerns about microplastic and chemical contamination.

Read More
A new report looks at major companies’ efforts to address plastic waste — and finds them lacking
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

A new report looks at major companies’ efforts to address plastic waste — and finds them lacking

Melissa Valliant, communications director for the nonprofit advocacy group Beyond Plastics, said these findings are in some ways unsurprising. “Historically, goals from the largest consumer goods companies have served as pretty PR stunts that generate headlines and reassure the public,” she told Grist. She said As You Sow’s findings emphasize the need for government regulation — not just voluntary corporate commitments — to expedite companies’ progress.

Read More
Plastics producers are following Big Tobacco’s playbook, and we’re all paying the price 
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Plastics producers are following Big Tobacco’s playbook, and we’re all paying the price 

Let’s not fall for another false solution offered by companies to maintain their profit margins. Let’s not allow chemical recycling to win with the same deceptive playbook used by Big Tobacco. We need real change now — and it can’t begin until companies are required by new laws to break their plastic habit and give consumers safe packaged products that don’t threaten the health of people or the planet.

Read More
Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability

So Charleston Waterkeeper joined with the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit law firm, and the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League, to identify what they believed to be the source of the nurdles and then to take that company, Frontier Logistics, L.P., to federal court, in March 2020. A year later, the environmental advocates and Frontier reached a settlement that included $1 million to improve water quality in the Charleston Harbor watershed.

Read More
Microplastics Are in Our Food, Too. How Worried Should We Be?
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Microplastics Are in Our Food, Too. How Worried Should We Be?

Of course, you’re not going to avoid microplastic consumption by shunning protein. According to Melissa Valliant, communications director for the nonprofit Beyond Plastics, microplastics have also been found in milk, fruits, vegetables, sugar, salt, honey—basically anything that’s been studied.

Read More
The Push to Control Plastic Waste in New York: What to Know
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

The Push to Control Plastic Waste in New York: What to Know

In 2020, the plastic supermarket bag was banned in New York. It is a member of the single-use-plastic family — items that release greenhouse gases when manufactured and, once used, can take years to break down in landfills. Many more single-use plastic products could go the way of the supermarket bag should state lawmakers approve the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act in early June.

Read More
Microplastics found in every human testicle in study
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Microplastics found in every human testicle in study

Microplastics have been found in human testicles, with researchers saying the discovery might be linked to declining sperm counts in men. The scientists tested 23 human testes, as well as 47 testes from pet dogs. They found microplastic pollution in every sample.

Read More
After Overshadowing Climate Talks, the Myth of ‘Circularity’ Looms Over the UN Plastics Treaty
Eve Fox Eve Fox

After Overshadowing Climate Talks, the Myth of ‘Circularity’ Looms Over the UN Plastics Treaty

Delegates from 191 countries meet once again this month for the UN plastics treaty talks in Ottawa, and they need to avoid falling into industry traps that will hinder real progress. Dow chair and CEO Jim Fitterling’s recent Commentary in Fortune is a perfect example of how to ensure failure in Ottawa. If delegates commit to the priorities he outlined, they will fail to implement real solutions to the growing problem caused by his company and companies like it.

Read More
Earth Day: How one grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Earth Day: How one grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’

Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too. For Judith Enck, that’s the epitome of pointless plastic. The baby food aisle is similarly distressing for her, with its rows and rows of blended fruits, vegetables and meat in single-use pouches that have replaced glass jars.

Read More
Environmentalists Push for Packaging Reform in New York Ahead of Earth Day
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Environmentalists Push for Packaging Reform in New York Ahead of Earth Day

Environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about plastic pollution in the environment for years and in New York, they are pushing for legislation on the issue. Judith Enck, the former EPA regional administrator who currently serves as president of the group Beyond Plastics, joined Capital Tonight on Friday to push for a packaging reduction bill.

Read More
Plastics Industry Heats World Four Times as Much as Air Travel, Report Finds
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Plastics Industry Heats World Four Times as Much as Air Travel, Report Finds

Pollution from the plastics industry is a major force behind the heating of the planet, according to a new report from the federal government. The industry releases about four times as many planet-warming chemicals as the airline industry, according to the paper from scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

Read More