April 2026 - Plastic Waste Solutions
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AI targets plastic waste systems
Posted on April 30, 2026 by DrRossH in GeneralSource: AI targets plastic waste systems - Inside Waste Managing municipal living plastic waste presents complex, system-wide challenges across collection, recycling and treatment, requiring the careful balancing of environmental, economic and resource outcomes. However, consistent assessment is often limited by...
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MAHA wants Trump to halt new plastic plants, limit microplastics – US
Posted on April 29, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsMAHA groups aligned with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. want the Trump administration to halt permits for new plastics plants, a point advocated by Democrats in Congress. Source: MAHA wants Trump to halt new plastic plants, limit microplastics -...
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The final link in the chain – Australia
Posted on April 22, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingRecycled plastic shows why markets matter, writes Suzanne Toumbourou, CEO of the Australian Council of Recycling. Source: The final link in the chain - Waste Management Review A functioning recycling system has three essential elements: collection, processing and end markets. Despite significant...
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Container Exchange – facing its next evolution – Australia
Posted on April 16, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingBefore becoming interim chief executive officer, Trevor Evans had already spent months inside the organisation in an advisory capacity. Source: Container Exchange - facing its next evolution - Inside Waste They say they can't increase the refund as people can't...
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Packaging reform: one country, one system – Australia
Posted on April 14, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations, Plastic Recycling, Plastic Waste NewsSource: Packaging reform: one country, one system - PKN Packaging News Packaging reform has been on and off Australia's policy agenda for more than two decades. Industry has talked, reviewed, trialled, consulted, and debated. Voluntary approaches have helped start the...
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Recyclers benefit from soaring cost of virgin material in March
Posted on April 7, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingSource: Recyclers benefit from soaring cost of virgin material in March - Plastics News In March, recyclers raised prices as the war in Iran initiated rising energy, logistics and raw material costs, which they had to pass...
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The dark side of the balloon boom – is it time they were banned? |- UK
Posted on April 7, 2026 by DrRossH in BalloonsSource: The dark side of the balloon boom – is it time they were banned? | Environment | The Guardian Our State of Our Beaches 2025 data found that nearly 40% of surveyed UK beaches had discarded balloons,” In 2020, Continue reading this entry →
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Brazil plastics recycling grows as new law drives change says Abiplast president Paulo Teixeira
Posted on April 1, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations, Plastic RecyclingSource: Brazil plastics recycling grows as new law drives change says Abiplast president Paulo Teixeira - Plastics News The targets of Decree 12,688 are ambitious: all packaging must contain at least 22% recycled plastic in 2026, increasing to 40% by...
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How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?