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.

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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.

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Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Reduce, reuse, redirect outrage: How plastic makers used recycling as a fig leaf

The plastics industry has worked for decades to convince people and policymakers that recycling would keep waste out of landfills and the environment. Consumers sort their trash so plastic packaging can be repurposed, and local governments use taxpayer money to gather and process the material. Yet from the early days of recycling, plastic makers, including oil and gas companies, knew that it wasn't a viable solution to deal with increasing amounts of waste, according to documents uncovered by the Center for Climate Integrity.

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The Plastics Industry Would Like a Word With Your Kids
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

The Plastics Industry Would Like a Word With Your Kids

School campuses are a new battleground in an increasingly bitter brawl over plastics, as groups like Vitale’s seek to improve the reputation of a material that has become infamous as an environmental menace. The efforts are partially funded by companies involved in or dependent on fossil fuel production, through donations and conference sponsorships.

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Chemical Recycling “A Dangerous Deception” for Solving Plastic Pollution: Report
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Chemical Recycling “A Dangerous Deception” for Solving Plastic Pollution: Report

Chemical recycling — an umbrella term used to describe processes that break plastic waste down into molecular building blocks with high heat or chemicals and convert them into new products — will not help reduce plastic pollution, but rather exacerbate environmental problems, according to a new report by nonprofit environmental advocacy groups Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN).

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New Report Calls Out Chemical Recycling as a ‘False Solution’ to the Plastics Crisis
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

New Report Calls Out Chemical Recycling as a ‘False Solution’ to the Plastics Crisis

The plastics and petrochemical industries’ latest purported solution to the plastic pollution crisis – chemical or “advanced” recycling – is essentially a public relations and marketing strategy designed to distract from the urgent need to curb plastic production, a new report contends. The report, released today by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), exposes the failures and perils of chemical recycling as an approach to manage plastic waste.

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Unproven “Advanced Recycling” Facilities Have Received Millions in Public Subsidies
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Unproven “Advanced Recycling” Facilities Have Received Millions in Public Subsidies

A new, 159-page report, released today by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network, or IPEN, casts serious doubt on the technology’s ability to make even a modest dent on the world’s growing plastic burden. In the most comprehensive report on chemical recycling facilities in the U.S. to date, researchers looked at the operations of 11 companies across the country to examine the plastic industry’s claim that chemical recycling can significantly help reduce global plastic pollution.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Climate Week Nyc’s Headline Partner Is a Notorious Polluter

As the only headline partner of Climate Week, the top level of sponsorship for the event, Saint-Gobain will have the opportunity to host discussions like a “Sustainable Construction Talk,” dedicated to “preserv[ing] our planet, while providing everyone with comfortable, decent housing“ and “building a comprehensive response to climate change.” But Saint-Gobain’s history in New York tells a very different story.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Compostable Plastic Is Garbage

In most cases, compostable plastic is compostable only under very specific conditions.And a home compost pile is like the industrial version in the same way that a pickup-basketball game among preteens is the same sport as the NBA. Fruit and vegetables start to dissolve into soil within a few weeks; meat takes a little longer. Eventually, any form of compostable plastic should break down too, Frederick Michel Jr., a compost expert at Ohio State University, told me. Eventually. In one study, compostable plastic bags buried in soil for three years were so sturdy they could still hold a full load of groceries.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Why Big Oil and the Chemical Lobby Are Blasting Us With “Advanced” Recycling Ads

The disturbing reports on plastic pollution just keep coming: toxic plastic waste is filling up our oceans, our landfills, and even our bodies. But if you’ve seen a recent surge of ads from the companies that produce this garbage, you might be forgiven for thinking they’re working on solutions to the problem. “America’s Plastic Makers” is the brand promoting a slew of ads about a new “solution” to plastic pollution that experts and evidence say creates new climate and environmental harms, and doesn’t actually work. It’s called “advanced” or chemical recycling, and refers to various processes for repurposing plastic waste.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Bio-Based Plastic Won’t Solve the Plastic Problem

If you order takeout in Los Angeles and your meal comes with a compostable fork made from PLA—a common bio-based plastic—you’re not supposed to toss the utensil in your curbside compost bin. The city doesn’t want any products or packaging labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable,” saying that the materials don’t actually break down quickly enough even at commercial composting facilities. The fork also can’t go in a recycling bin, since it can contaminate other materials. And if it ends up in a landfill or the ocean, it may last as long as if it had been made from regular plastic.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Is Chemical Recycling Greenwashing?

The US is being seen as the testbed for the rollout of a range of technologies that proponents say are the solution to the worldwide plastic crisis. But can chemical recycling even be considered as recycling or is the oil and gas industry looking for a lifeline?

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

‘Compostable Plastic’ Doesn’t Live Up to Its Environmental Claims. Here’s What You Can Focus On Instead

So as demand for climate action escalates and the dangers of plastics become more evident, consumers are turning to so-called compostable and biodegradable alternatives for things like food containers, cups, plates, cutlery and bags, in hopes of mitigating further climate and environmental harms. But unfortunately, researchers say those products are also a problem.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Beyond Plastics: The Myths and Truths About Recycling, and Potential Solutions

The pervasiveness of plastic has become a global concern. An estimated 242 million metric tons of it is generated every year, and the United States is one of the top generators. While recycling sounds like a simple solution, it’s not. Plastic recycling has proven to be ineffective, as evidenced by a shocking statistic from Our World in Data: Out of the 5.8 billion metric tons of plastic waste generated between 1950 and 2015, only about 9% of it has been recycled. The rest has been left to be incinerated, landfilled, or littered. On top of that, a more recent report from nonprofit The Last Beach Cleanup and advocacy group Beyond Plastics found that number to be even lower, with only 5% to 6% of the U.S.’s plastic waste converted into new products in 2021.

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