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Chemicals used in plastic food packaging linked to 10% of preterm births in 2018

Grist

A class of chemicals commonly used in plastic food containers and cosmetic products may have caused about 10 percent of the United States’ preterm births in 2018, according to a study from environmental health experts at New York University. Phthalate exposure is just one way the plastics industry externalizes harms.

Plastics 141
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Why Google, BASF and Sephora are coming together on safer chemistry

GreenBiz

The for-profit firm Scivera , launched in 2008 in Charlottesville, Virginia, offers a subscription database SciveraLENS, with color-coded grades for chemicals based on their inherent hazards. A view inside a ChemFORWARD display of dimethyl phthalate, used in plastics. That could bring more of the plastic industry onboard, he added. "If

Plastics 495
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Investigation reveals almost 130,000 tonnes of carpet incinerated annually

Envirotec Magazine

CRUK, which includes John Lewis as one of its members,[i] launched in 2008 with the aim of diverting carpet from landfill and recovering raw materials.[ii]. Carpets are made mostly of plastics, which when burnt release harmful greenhouse gases. CRUK publicly celebrates having increased diversion from landfill from 2% to 44%.[iii]

Recycling 246
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Sustainability Reawakens

Terra Infirma

I’m getting increasingly optimistic that we might indeed ‘build back better’ in a way we largely failed to do after the 2008 banking crisis. The crisis has also shone a spotlight on terrible working conditions in a number of industries, unfortunately at the cost of the health of those already suffering deprivation.

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How the recycling symbol lost its meaning

Grist

A woman sorts plastics at the Santa Monica Recycling Center in California in 1992. Today, the recycling icon is omnipresent — found on plastic bottles, cereal boxes, and bins loitering alongside curbs across the country. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency said that the symbol’s use on many plastic products was “ deceptive.”

Recycling 140
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The Seven Sins of Greenwashing

Green Business Bureau

In addition to these financial risks, greenwashing can also harm businesses by: Exposing employees and consumers to toxic, dangerous, and environmentally damaging products by not investing in the appropriate health and safety measures as a true sustainable business would. Legal conviction by The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

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Evian's Shweta Harit on circularity, Covid-19, and 'big, hairy' goals

Business Green

Moreover, even before the coronavirus hit recycling collection processes, a shortage of available recycled plastic has presented a major challenge for the growing number of companies looking to ditch virgin plastic - and in particular food and drink companies, which require a higher grade of recycled plastic.