Waste

"Around the world, an estimated 20 million people make a living by collecting discarded plastic, aluminum, and other refuse from dumpsites and landfills and selling it to recyclers. They’re called “waste pickers,” and though their work is essential — they round up nearly 60 percent of all the postconsumer plastic waste that gets collected for recycling — it is often unacknowledged, unremunerated, and underappreciated."

"The White House said Friday that is setting a goal of ending the federal government’s purchasing of single-use plastics by 2035."

"The poliovirus has been found in sewage samples from Gaza putting thousands of people living in crowded displaced persons’ camps at risk of contracting the highly infectious disease that can cause deformities and paralysis."

"The lack of federal regulations and clear definitions for bioplastics make it increasingly difficult to determine whether or not they are a safe alternative to traditional plastics, according to a new report from Beyond Plastics."

"Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions both in the U.S. and globally." "Current EPA rules are inadequate, experts say, but the agency has committed to updating them. States like California, Maryland, and Washington can show the way."

"A deep dive into the petrochemical industry's proposals for the global plastics treaty."

"Companies have spent decades obstructing efforts to take on the plastics crisis and may have breached a host of US laws, a new report argues."

"The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day."