Plastic

India has rejected demands from large global and domestic beverage firms to exempt some plastic straws from a ban that takes effect on July 1, fanning fears of disruption in a multi-billion-dollar industry.

The ban on items such as straws packaged with small packs of juices and dairy products that earn $790 million in annual sales is part of India’s drive to stamp out polluting, single-use plastic trash that chokes rivers and drains.

Bits of plastic dust have been floating around our environment for as long as humans have been using plastic, but scientists have only recently started investigating how these particles may affect our health. Microplastics are by definition smaller than a pencil eraser, so humans and animals may inhale or ingest them without knowing.

Past studies have identified microplastics in human stool and autopsy samples, but this is the first time scientists have discovered plastic particles lodged in the lungs of living patients.

The Hasbro Pulse team hosted a lengthy livestream to reveal product previews and other announcements for G.I. Joe’s 40th anniversary.

Around the hour and a half mark, Emily from the product marketing team introduced the e-commerce packaging for an upcoming Cobra Viper Officer and Vipers set. This packaging, she notes, is also a preview of what plastic-free packaging will look like for the G.I. Joe line. The team emphasized that this Cobra Viper Officer box isn’t exactly what the plastic-free packaging will look like, but that it is a “good indicator.”

The approach was invented by Dr Bushra Al-Duri, from the University’s School of Chemical Engineering and further developed during a collaborative project with Stopford.

Iceland is replacing its previous packaging with Mondi’s versatile functional barrier paper across a number of its ranges. The first newly packaged product to hit the shelves earlier this month was the retailer’s frozen chicken dippers, which reduces the amount of plastic used per year by 80%.

France has banned the use of plastics to package most fruit and vegetables.

The ban came into effect on Saturday under new regulations that French President Emmanuel Macron’s government says are meant to phase out single-use plastics as pollution worsens globally.

Under the new rules, leeks and carrots, tomatoes and potatoes, apples and pears and about 30 other items can no longer be sold in plastic. Instead, they should be wrapped in recyclable materials.