Four articles reveal more and more solutions are emerging to the marine litter – plastics challenge.
Ellen Macarthur Foundation leading the way with the circular economy – three new reports this year:
The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics
A New Dynamic 2: Effective systems in a circular economy
Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the circular economy potential
Prevention is better than cure: Plastic micro-bead petition
Greenpeace, MCS and other NGOs are targeting plastic ‘micro-beads’ ‘Harmful plastic “microbeads” are unnecessarily put in the face scrubs and toothpastes we use every day. They are too small to be filtered, so end up in our oceans – and the creatures swimming in them. David Cameron must follow other world leaders like President Obama and the Canadian Prime Minister who’ve banned companies from using these wholly unnecessary bits of plastic.’
Boyen Slat – Video of the Dutch idea
This floating barrier idea is attracting very mixed responses however, they have received major funding from Japan to test this idea. Given the scale of the challenge it will be worth looking carefully at the outcomes. One could do with the saviour of the planet stuff though.
‘Plastic soup’ pollution around Australia
The oceans around Australia have been described as ‘plastic soup’ because of the amount of rubbish in the water. To find out more about the problem and how it could be tackled Newsday heard from Heidi Taylor. She’s the managing director of Tangaroa Blue Foundation, an Australian marine environment charity, and also runs the government-sponsored ‘Australian Marine Debris Initiative’.
No Comment