Waste

"The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people’s bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South."

"The Navajo Nation has approved emergency legislation meant to strengthen a tribal law that regulates the transportation of radioactive material across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S."

"Fertilizer made from city sewage has been spread on millions of acres of farmland for decades. Scientists say it can contain high levels of the toxic substance."

"The plastics industry uses a controversial accounting method to inflate the recycled content it advertises in products. A new EPA policy won’t allow it for any products it endorses as a “Safer Choice.”"

"When the news crew showed up outside a waste-handling business that’s failed three fire safety inspections and has yet to gain state approval to store plastic, workers quickly closed a gate displaying a “no trespassing” sign."

"Nearby residents have been sounding the alarm about Coffin Butte Landfill for years. Now Sen. Jeff Merkley and other members of Congress are demanding action."

"Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators."

"The United States, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, will support a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much new plastic is produced each year in a major policy shift, a source close to U.S. negotiators told Reuters on Wednesday."

"In hundreds of U.S. cities and towns, extreme rainfalls are overwhelming outdated sewer systems, flooding waterways with untreated sewage."

"Tropical Storm Debby brought intense rainfall and flooding threats to North Carolina on Thursday, highlighting the vulnerability of hog lagoons and wastewater treatment plants."