Resources

The clear limitations of single-use packaging are being exposed, and reusable packaging is now standing high on the agenda of policy-makers and key market players. This report aims at bringing the evidence needed (from a quantitative and qualitative aspect) for determining the product categories that are most suitable for the transition of some packaging from single-use to reusable options.

This report investigates the behaviour of some of the biggest fashion brands and retailers regarding their use of synthetic fibres and transparency about doing so. Our findings not only expose fashion brands’ heavy addiction to synthetics but also demonstrate rampant greenwashing across their voluntary commitments and products, with as much as 59% of green claims for the products we assessed being unsubstantiated or misleading.

Tearfund commissioned Ed Cook from the University of Leeds to undertake an independent academic assessment of eight different approaches to recovering value from plastic waste – ranging from conventional recycling to incineration. They are assessed according to their impact on the environment; public and occupational health; and commercial prevalence and maturity.

The report pulls together recent scientific data on the broad impact of plastics on climate, biodiversity, human health, the environment, and planetary stability to ‘sound the alarm’ on the pollution caused by plastics throughout their lifecycles. ‘Connecting the Dots’ makes recommendations on how to design and ensure effective, long-term and collaborative global policy which considers plastic pollution as a threat to planetary boundaries and takes into account its knock-on impacts on other environmental crises.

We will explain in our compact climate check why the climate also benefits if you use reusable boxes and disposable cups instead of disposable containers.

Semen quality in men continues to decline in Western countries, but the contours of the issue remain obscure, in relation to contributing chemicals.

Plastic pollution does not respect borders. It is in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and even in our bodies. A new binding legal instrument, covering the entire lifecycle of plastic, is required to tackle this planetary crisis.

Faced with increasing pressure from lawmakers and civil society to reduce plastic production and greater awareness of the limits of mechanical recycling, the petrochemical industry has been peddling chemical “recycling” and “plastic-to-fuel” as a primary solution to plastic pollution. However, after billions of dollars and decades of development, these approaches do not work as advertised. A plastics treaty stands to be undermined if it embraces these industry-backed false solutions.

Burning waste emits climate pollution and other toxic chemicals, and is the least energy efficient and most costly method of energy production. A plastics treaty must adopt a moratorium on new incinerators and encourage a roadmap to phase out all existing incinerators by 2030.

The global plastics treaty provides an important opportunity to officially discourage or ban the use of plastic credits before they become widespread. Doing so would avoid the incredible amount of regulatory oversight needs —both in the private and public sectors— to organize and manage international plastic credit markets. The collective efforts could be better spent on reducing plastic production rapidly.