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In a piece published Thursday in the journal Nature, the international group of scientists make that argument that by reclassifying the most harmful plastic waste as hazardous material--much like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were in 1989--environmental agencies will be better equipped to regulate the waste and research less destructive alternatives.
"The United States, Europe, Japan and other nations classified plastic as solid waste, treating their disposal much like food scraps or grass clippings," said report coauthor Mark Anthony Browne. "It's an outdated view that plastics are inert ignoring scientific evidence [...] that plastic debris is laden with highly toxic pollutants."
"We believe that if countries classified the most harmful plastics as hazardous, their environmental agencies would have the power to restore affected habitats and prevent more dangerous debris from accumulating," says the report.
The proposal initially targets four kinds of plastics composed of the most toxic materials: polyvinylchloride, or PVC, used in plastic pipes; polystyrene, or popularly known as Styrofoam; polyurethane; and polycarbonate, a hard plastic used in making baby bottles, electronics and appliances.
"We feel," the group writes, "that the physical dangers of plastic debris are well enough established, and the suggestions of chemical dangers sufficiently worrying, that the biggest producers of plastic waste--the United States, Europe and China--must act now."
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
In a piece published Thursday in the journal Nature, the international group of scientists make that argument that by reclassifying the most harmful plastic waste as hazardous material--much like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were in 1989--environmental agencies will be better equipped to regulate the waste and research less destructive alternatives.
"The United States, Europe, Japan and other nations classified plastic as solid waste, treating their disposal much like food scraps or grass clippings," said report coauthor Mark Anthony Browne. "It's an outdated view that plastics are inert ignoring scientific evidence [...] that plastic debris is laden with highly toxic pollutants."
"We believe that if countries classified the most harmful plastics as hazardous, their environmental agencies would have the power to restore affected habitats and prevent more dangerous debris from accumulating," says the report.
The proposal initially targets four kinds of plastics composed of the most toxic materials: polyvinylchloride, or PVC, used in plastic pipes; polystyrene, or popularly known as Styrofoam; polyurethane; and polycarbonate, a hard plastic used in making baby bottles, electronics and appliances.
"We feel," the group writes, "that the physical dangers of plastic debris are well enough established, and the suggestions of chemical dangers sufficiently worrying, that the biggest producers of plastic waste--the United States, Europe and China--must act now."
In a piece published Thursday in the journal Nature, the international group of scientists make that argument that by reclassifying the most harmful plastic waste as hazardous material--much like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were in 1989--environmental agencies will be better equipped to regulate the waste and research less destructive alternatives.
"The United States, Europe, Japan and other nations classified plastic as solid waste, treating their disposal much like food scraps or grass clippings," said report coauthor Mark Anthony Browne. "It's an outdated view that plastics are inert ignoring scientific evidence [...] that plastic debris is laden with highly toxic pollutants."
"We believe that if countries classified the most harmful plastics as hazardous, their environmental agencies would have the power to restore affected habitats and prevent more dangerous debris from accumulating," says the report.
The proposal initially targets four kinds of plastics composed of the most toxic materials: polyvinylchloride, or PVC, used in plastic pipes; polystyrene, or popularly known as Styrofoam; polyurethane; and polycarbonate, a hard plastic used in making baby bottles, electronics and appliances.
"We feel," the group writes, "that the physical dangers of plastic debris are well enough established, and the suggestions of chemical dangers sufficiently worrying, that the biggest producers of plastic waste--the United States, Europe and China--must act now."