Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Zero waste lifestyle: 10 practical tips to get started

Can India's 5,000-year-old disposable clay teacups compete with single-use plastic?

The central government has prohibited as many as 156 <keyword id="22893276" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="combination-drugs" source="keywords">combination drugs</keyword> that are often administered as painkillers, multivitamins, and antibiotics, for fever and cold, among others. In a gazette notification dated August 21, the government said that the use of the drug Fixed Dose Combination of Amylase, Protease, Glucoamylase, Pectinase, Alpha Galactosidase, Lactase, Beta-Gluconase, Cellulase, Lipase, Bromelain, Xylanase, Hemicellulase, Malt diastase, Invertase, Papain is likely to involve risk to human beings whereas safer alternatives to the said drug are available. Upon recommendations of the <keyword id="20092000" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Drugs-Technical-Advisory-Board" source="keywords">Drugs Technical Advisory Board</keyword>, the central government, in the greater interest of the public, has prohibited the manufacture for sale, sale, and distribution for human use of those drugs across the country with immediate effect. The move from the government comes after the matter was examined by an expert committee appointed by the central government, and the said expert committee considered the administration of this Fixed Dose Combination as "irrational". The Drugs Technical Advisory Board also examined the said FDC and recommended that "there is no therapeutic justification for the ingredients contained in this FDC. The FDC may involve risk to human beings. Hence in the larger public interest, it is necessary to prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of this FDC under section 26 A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940. In view of above, any kind of regulation or restriction to allow for any use in patients is not justifiable," the notification read. The list of banned drugs also includes drugs used for hair treatments, antiparasitic, skincare, anti-allergic. The medicines combined in more than one drug in a single pill are Fixed dose combination drugs FDC, these drugs are also known as cocktail drugs. The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance supports the decision of the government. Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, IPA told that, "this has been going for many years and there was a committee which reviewed the whole thing... This is a right step in the interest of patients and all aspects have been taken into consideration." "They have given the opportunity to give the data to support their products, so the right products will continue and when there is no data to support then companies have to withdraw it," Jain added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/2024-tvs-jupiter-vs-honda-activa-6g-which-110cc-scooter-should-you-buy/slidelist/112730069.cms">2024 TVS Jupiter vs Honda Activa 6G – which 110cc scooter should you buy?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/how-to/how-to-add-music-to-instagram-profile/articleshow/112732934.cms">You can now add music to your Instagram profile – here's how</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/audi-q8-facelift-launched-in-india-with-a-1-17-crore-price-tag/slidelist/112707701.cms">Audi Q8 facelift launched in India with a ₹1.17 crore price tag</a>

India bans 156 commonly used combination drugs citing possible risks to humans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A few states and some countries are passing laws to combat plastic waste.</li><li><keyword id="11892889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="california" source="Orion">California</keyword> is the fourth US state that will make companies pay for packaging waste.</li></ul>The first half of 2022 has seen a wave of new policies cracking down on <keyword id="12318689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="Orion">plastic pollution</keyword> in the US and countries like <keyword id="6356687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> and <keyword id="11892747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. In recent weeks, California became the fourth state that will force companies to pay for cleaning up packaging waste, while Canada and India have banned the production and import of certain <keyword id="14446315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="single-use-plastic" source="Orion">single-use plastic</keyword> products. Advocates say the momentum feels like a turning point in the global fight to eliminate the eight million metric tons of plastic waste <a href="https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/">that flows into oceans each year</a>. According to the United Nations, this is the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck every minute. The vast majority of plastic never gets recycled and ends up in landfills, in incinerators, or as litter on land and in waterways. The US <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26132/chapter/1">is the world's largest contributor</a> to the problem despite representing <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/">less than 5% of the global population</a>."The public is increasingly making the connection between plastic and so many other issues, which is expanding the coalition of groups and individuals who care deeply about this," Anja Brandon, a US plastics-policy analyst at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, said. "That, in turn, is expanding the number of policymakers who recognize plastic pollution as critically important." Brandon said those connections include how plastic is made from the fossil fuels that drive the climate crisis. Local governments in the US often build plastic-manufacturing plants, landfills, and incinerators <a href="https://blogs.newschool.edu/news/2022/05/tishman-environment-and-design-centers-work-reveals-most-incinerators-pollute-low-income-and-communities-of-color-and-worsen-climate-change/">in marginalized communities</a>, which then disproportionately expose these communities to pollution. Researchers are also discovering tiny particles of plastic — known as microplastics — <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/microplastics-detected-in-human-blood-180979826/">in human blood</a> and stool, raising questions about potential health effects.The <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword> push has led some big brands and plastic makers to promise to make more recyclable or compostable packaging and to channel money toward local infrastructure so producers can get their materials back and reuse them. "We're investing in new technology to make sure the percent of recycled content in packaging increases and designing things to be lighter," Jen Ronk, the senior sustainability manager at Dow North America Packaging &amp; Specialty Plastics, said. The company <a href="http://www.businessfor2030.org/dow">also pledged to spend more than $1 billion</a> on efforts to manage plastic waste. Here's a rundown of the latest action: <h2>California</h2>On June 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54">signed the most aggressive restrictions</a> on plastic in the country into law. By 2032, producers must use 25% less plastic in packaging for items like shampoo, food containers, and cups. Ocean Conservancy estimates that this provision alone will <a href="https://oceanconservancy.org/news/sb54-california-righting-ship-leading-u-s-ocean-plastic-pollution-crisis/">reduce plastic production by 23 million tons</a>, or 26 times the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge. By the same date, at least 65% of plastic must be recycled, a major jump from the <a href="https://sd26.senate.ca.gov/index.php/news/press-release/senator-allen-introduces-bill-phase-out-unsustainable-single-use-plastics">less than 15% that is recycled today</a>. "We know that to reduce the plastic-pollution crisis, we have to make less in the first place and reuse more through a circular economy," Brandon said, adding that the <keyword id="14446313" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="california-law" source="Orion">California law</keyword> is the first to address both sides of that equation. Plastic makers will pay $5 billion into a state fund to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of pollution from their products, as well. The industry will pay for collecting, sorting, and recycling waste through a fee on packaging, which will shift the burden away from taxpayers who now fund municipal-waste management. That policy, known as extended-producer responsibility, has picked up steam over the last year as Maine, Oregon, and most recently <keyword id="11918419" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="colorado" source="Orion">Colorado</keyword>, passed similar legislation. <h2>Colorado </h2>In June, the state passed its own extended-producer responsibility law that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colorado-to-tax-bottles-and-packaging-for-recycling-2022-6">slaps a fee on packaging such as bottles, food wrappers, and cardboard</a> to help fund recycling and keep waste out of landfills. Colorado's statewide <a href="https://cdphe.colorado.gov/colorado-recycling-totals">recycling rate for all materials is 15%</a>, less than half the national average of 32%. The law itself doesn't set mandatory recycling targets, but brands and packaging makers have to develop some for 2030 after they form a nonprofit to run the new recycling program.The law got rare public endorsements from big business, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Walmart. They joined forces with environmental groups like Recycle Colorado, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Sierra Club. <h2>Canada</h2><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-guidance.html">On June 22, the government announced</a> it would ban companies from making and importing certain single-use plastics by the end of the year as part of a sweeping effort to fight pollution and the climate crisis.Most plastic grocery bags, silverware, and straws fall under the ban, with a few exceptions for medical needs. According to the government, Canadians throw away more than 3 million tons of plastic waste every year and the country only recycles about 9% of it. "Companies don't make Canada-specific packaging or US-state specific packaging," Brandon said. "They are trying to maximize efficiency in a globalized supply chain, so these policies will have far-reaching ripple effects."<h2>India </h2>On July 1, India's government announced a ban on single-use plastics covering 19 items that are most likely to wind up as litter, such as straws, cups, and some disposable bags. The ban makes it illegal to make or import these products.According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/01/1109476072/india-plastics-ban-begins">the Associated Press</a>, thousands of other plastic items aren't covered, though the federal government has set recycling targets for manufacturers. According to its federal pollution watchdog, India generated more than 4.1 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2020. This decade the country is also trying to reduce the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product — known as carbon intensity — by 45%. Curbing plastic manufacturing can help India meet that target, said advocates of the ban.

Fighting our plastic problem: Bans and recycling mandates gain steam in the US and abroad

<keyword id="19896016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-delhi" source="keywords">New Delhi</keyword>, The Centre has amended the <keyword id="8725745" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Surrogacy-rules" source="Orion">surrogacy rules</keyword> 2022 allowing married couples to use an egg or sperm of a donor in case one of the partners is suffering from a medical condition. The <keyword id="20697462" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="district-medical-board" source="keywords">District Medical Board</keyword> has to certify that either the husband or wife is suffering from a medical condition necessitating the use of donor gamete. "In case when the District Medical Board certifies that either husband or wife constituting the intending couple suffers from a medical condition necessitating use of donor gamete, then surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed," the notification issued on Wednesday said. The surrogacy using donor gamete is allowed subject to the condition that the child to be born through surrogacy must have at least one gamete from the intending couple, it stated. This means if both the partners have medical problems or are unable to have their own gametes they cannot opt for surrogacy. "<keyword id="19908986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="single" source="keywords">Single</keyword> women (widow or divorcee) undergoing surrogacy must use self-eggs and donor sperm to avail surrogacy procedures," the notification read. The amendment came after the <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> last year received petitions from women across the country after it allowed a woman with a rare congenital disorder to avail surrogacy with a donor egg. The Centre had in March 2023 issued a notification banning donor gametes for couples intending to undergo surrogacy.

Surrogacy rules changed, couples with medical condition can use donor gametes

America has long had a plastic problem. It's an urgent question — what do we do with the 40 million tons of plastic waste we produce annually? One year of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disposable-face-mask-waste-toxic-poison-water-nanoplastics-pollution-health-2022-2">plastic waste</a> is roughly enough to smother the entirety of Manhattan a meter deep, and it has to go somewhere. For years, the answer was simple: Make a lot of it, dump most of it in the landfill, and make the rest of it someone else's problem — the US regularly exported 7 million tons a year to China alone. Some of it was melted into lesser plastic; the rest was incinerated or buried.But then, in 2018, China cut off plastic imports.Now, America is coming to terms with a hard truth: Plastic was never designed to be recycled and there's no profitable way to recycle 91% of it. The environmental impacts have been disastrous. About 430 million tons of plastic are produced globally every year, accounting for 14% of global oil demand. The refinement of plastic alone emits up to 235 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. Most of that plastic breaks down into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-risks-heart-attack-stroke-study-2024-3">microplastics</a> that make their way into the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/expert-how-i-keep-baby-family-safe-toxic-plastic-microplastics-2023-1">air, rain, and our bodies</a>. Almost 95% of America's water supply contains plastic fibers.While the US, the UK, and other European countries responded to China's ban by sending their waste to places like Thailand and Malaysia, those countries then followed China in cutting off waste imports. The message was clear: The Global South would no longer be a dumping ground for the West.<div type="image" title="A scavenger drinks water while collecting plastic waste to sell to a recycling center at a landfill in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia in March 2024" height="3333" width="5000" msid="109561992" hostid="261"></div>America is now scrambling to find alternatives. One approach peddled by oil corporations like Chevron and Exxon has been to turn plastic into crude oil, which they say extends the life of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-americas-largest-waste-hauler-investing-in-a-plastic-recycler-2022-9">plastic that would've otherwise ended up in a landfill</a>. As these companies look to replace projected lost revenue from the phasing out of fossil fuels, they're lobbying to blanket the country with 150 plants that specialize in pyrolysis, a form of chemical recycling that melts plastic down into crude oil to be used for fuel and petrochemicals, as well as to make lesser-quality plastics. While advocates champion these facilities for breaking down hard-to-recycle plastics that other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-recycling-startups-aluminum-plastic-valuable-materials-2024-4">recyclers toss aside</a>, critics condemn them for emitting toxic particles, relying heavily on government subsidies, and acting as a greenwashed alternative to addressing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-recycled-into-bricks-ivory-coast-conceptos-plasticos-2023-2">the plastic problem</a>.As they're pitched as an innovation set to bring us a "circular economy" of plastic that allows us to stop making new plastic and just reuse what we have, marketing for pyrolysis and recycling overlooks a glaring fact: Plastic production doubles every 15 to 20 years.This isn't sustainable, Tim Miller, a vice president at the Ohio plastic-recycling center Royal Paper Stock, told me, adding: "But I don't know how to stop it." Pyrolysis is another sign of America's plastic paralysis.In the years after World War II, plastic flooded the marketplace as a cheap alternative to otherwise scarce and finite materials. It was hailed as a democratic harbinger of a new, utopian age of capitalism, fueling the subsequent decades of cheap consumerism that became synonymous with the American dream."The continuous flow of oil fueled not just cars but an entire culture based on the consumption of new products made of plastics," Susan Freinkel wrote in her book "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story."Plastic went from being practically nonexistent in 1940 to being consumed at a rate of 30 pounds a person each year by 1960. Just as quickly, it became a target of environmental movements protesting litter, garbage-filled oceans, and landfills brimming with plastic. Oil and chemical companies responded by looking into whether recycling was realistic or, more importantly, profitable. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">It wasn't</a>. So companies shifted the blame for the pollution onto consumers. The "Crying Indian" commercial, funded by beverage and packaging corporations, aired in 1971, showing a Native American character crying at the sight of litter.The messaging worked. As companies expanded plastic into every facet of life, recycling became the due diligence needed to sustain our hyperconsumption. We didn't worry about plastic bottles because the recycling truck carried them off to a new life. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nestlé slapped "100% recycled" and "100% recyclable" labels on their packaging to appear sustainable. Just last year, the Plastics Industry Association launched a million-dollar ad campaign, "Recycling Is Real," claiming that it's "not only real, but feasible and economical."While recycling is real, the vast majority of plastic isn't recycled, mostly due to how expensive it is to clean and sort it effectively. A 2022 report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found only 9% of all plastic ever produced had been recycled; 72% ended up in landfills or the environment. Unlike aluminum or glass, the plastic that can be recycled rarely results in replacing one recycled water bottle with another.<div type="image" title="Recycling sorters at Recologys Recycle Central sort out pieces of flimsy and film plastic destined for landfill in 2019 in San Francisco" height="4480" width="6720" msid="109561996" hostid="261"></div>Instead, it's a process of downcycling — turning plastic into lesser plastics like plant containers or bins before they are relegated to a landfill. By downcycling a tiny portion of plastic waste, companies can genuinely reuse a relatively small share of plastic, while convincing consumers that the industry has created a circular economy of infinitely recycled plastic. Never mind that products advertised as being made from recycled plastic are made almost entirely out of new plastic or that almost all the 300 pounds of plastic every American consumes each year (10 times as much as in 1960) ends up in a landfill, in the ocean, or incinerated.Larry Thomas, a former president of what's now called the Plastics Industry Association, told NPR in 2020: "If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment." And if they aren't worried about the impact of plastic on the environment, they won't threaten the plastics industry.Since 2018, the fossil-fuel and plastics industries have faced two harsh realities: Oil is being phased out in favor of clean, renewable energy, and plastic waste can no longer be exported to developing nations in the South. To replace their fuel losses, oil companies are going all in on plastic. The International Energy Agency predicted in 2018 that petrochemical products like plastic would outpace trucks, aviation, and shipping in oil demand by 2050. In a recent report, ExxonMobil predicted that petrochemicals used largely for plastics and fertilizer would account for nearly all of the oil industry's growth by 2050, replacing industrial fuel demand, which is projected to decrease. To keep expanding plastic production, however, it needs to look sustainable.<div type="image" title="A Good Year sign in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562000" hostid="261"></div>Akron, Ohio, which hosts about one-quarter of the country's polymer companies, is ground zero for this push. Designated by the Biden administration as the only "tech hub" in Ohio, the city has received tens of millions of dollars from the CHIPS Act, which it hopes to use to create a circular economy around plastic.In 2012, Alterra Energy opened America's first large-scale plastic-pyrolysis facility. According to its website, Alterra converts "plastics back into their original building blocks to produce new plastics and other valuable products." The crude oil produced by the Akron facility is shipped to petrochemical companies around the globe to be purified and made into new plastics. But it's unclear how effective this process is.A study published in 2023 by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that the economic and environmental impact of turning pyrolysis oil back into plastic was actually far worse than it was to make brand-new plastic. As a result, they said, pyrolysis oil is "typically reintegrated into the petrochemical industry where only a small fraction is used for closed-loop recycling."<div type="image" title="The Alterra Energy facility in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562003" hostid="261"></div>"It has had, let's say, limited success," Miller, the Royal Paper Stock vice president, said about pyrolysis. "No one yet in the United States that I know of is just cranking in plastic and pumping out oil." He pointed to a pyrolysis facility in Oregon that just announced it would shut down after tens of millions of dollars in losses.Residents in Akron are split on the impacts of the Alterra facility. On the one hand, pyrolysis melts plastic to be reused instead of sending it to the landfill or incinerator. On the other, it emits cancerous pollutants such as mercury, benzene, and arsenic, and props up the very fossil-fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis.<div type="image" title="Kelley Sayre in front of her garage in Akron, Ohio" height="1500" width="1200" msid="109562007" hostid="261"></div>"Akron's going for 'the green city on the hill,'" Kelley Sayre, a fourth-generation Akron resident, told me, "but it's really 'the greenwashing city.'"Vicky Abou-Ghalioum, the lead petrochemicals organizer of Buckeye Environmental Network, has been working with Akron residents concerned about the environmental and health impacts of chemical recycling, but it's proved challenging in a city ruled by polymers. "People are afraid to talk about plastic," she told me. Her organization has been pushing the EPA to address the influx of planned pyrolysis facilities in Ohio, arguing that they're bad for the environment and people, and aren't even profitable.In a statement to Business Insider, Alterra Energy said its Akron facility is profitable and diverts over 100,000 pounds of plastic each day from landfills. "We operate in a heavily regulated industry and are in compliance with those requirements," the company said in response to concerns about toxic emissions. It also said one of its customers uses Alterra's oil product exclusively for making new plastic.Despite the problems of pyrolysis, many manufacturers hail it as a sustainable miracle. Companies such as Eastman Chemical Co. see chemical recycling as the solution to recycling or composting 50% of their plastic packaging by 2025, and the American Chemistry Council claims the growing industry is necessary for fostering what it calls "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/news-trends/press-release/2022/america-s-plastic-makers-encourage-congressional-focus-on-advanced-recycling-to-achieve-circularity">plastics circularity</a>." But these companies face an uphill battle. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City launched an $85 million campaign in 2022 to stop over 120 proposed petrochemical facilities. "Petrochemical plants poison our air and water — killing Americans and harming the health of entire communities," Bloomberg said in a statement.In the plastic-recycling industry, pyrolysis is seen as a well funded but failing experiment. A 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling">report</a> by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network found that the 11 pyrolysis facilities in operation in the US required massive public subsidies, most couldn't operate at full capacity, and only two of the plants sold the crude oil to be used exclusively for plastic production. Most of it was sold to make fuels and chemicals. Based on their findings, they argued that pyrolysis was ultimately "a public relations distraction to prevent plastic regulation and prop up the profits of the petrochemical/plastics industry."Though the conundrum of plastic grows more dire by the day, there are signs of hope. In early <a target="_blank" href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop">2022</a>, the UN adopted a resolution that could send shock waves throughout the entire plastic-disposing world. Heads of state, environment ministers, and UN representatives agreed to end all plastic pollution with a legally binding international plastic treaty to be officially adopted later this year. "Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic," Espen Barth Eide, Norway's then-minister for climate and the environment, said in the announcement. "With today's resolution we are officially on track for a cure."The resolution would establish an agreement addressing plastic at every level, from production to recycling, in an attempt to reduce plastic pollution worldwide. Organizations such as the international coalition Break Free From Plastic have said that cutting the production of plastic has to be on the table. "The oil and gas industry sees plastic as its primary growth market and is investing billions of dollars in new and expanded facilities," the organization wrote in a 2022 statement. The group recommended bans on single-use plastics, a plastic tax, and regulations that prioritize plastics that can be recycled."Reduction in the production of plastic is entirely possible," Abou-Ghalioum of Buckeye Environmental Network told me. She pointed to the more than 500 cities and 12 states that have banned plastic bags, reducing the number of bags used by the billions. "It's talked about how we rely on plastic for so many things, and it just feels like a marketing ploy to make us reluctant to shift away from it," she said. "We had everything we ever needed before plastic."The tough reality is that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/landfill-plastic-area">9.5 billion tons of plastic</a> with us will be here for hundreds of years. But how many millions of more tons are added will be determined by the types of solutions we arrive at today.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/taylor-dorrell">Taylor Dorrell</a> is a writer and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio.

China stopped taking our plastic. Now America is drowning in it. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Amazon said nearly all deliveries in North America no longer have plastic air pillows inside.</li><li>This change avoids 15 billion air pillows a year, Amazon's biggest plastic reduction effort yet.</li></ul>Nearly all Amazon deliveries in North America no longer include plastic air pillows, the e-commerce giant said on Thursday.Amazon said the change would avoid some 15 billion air pillows — the company's largest reduction in plastic packaging to date. Instead, Amazon is using a paper filler made from 100% recycled material that customers can recycle at home as part of a broader effort to eventually eliminate all plastic packaging from North American fulfillment centers. Amazon already met that goal in Europe this year.The switch to recycled paper comes as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-global-plastic-pollution-treaty-under-scrutiny-2024-4">companies and governments are under pressure</a> to phase out single-use plastics that are piling up in landfills and contributing to the climate crisis. The vast majority of plastics are made from oil and gas, can't be recycled, and degrade into tiny particles that leach into the air and environment. Scientists have found those microplastics in human blood along with organs including the liver, heart, lungs, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-found-in-human-testicles-what-to-do-2024-5">most recently testicles</a>, but the effects on our health are still being studied.For years, Oceana, a nonprofit that advocates for protecting oceans, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-plastic-air-packets-boxes-circle-the-planet-2022-12">has criticized Amazon's ballooning plastic</a> footprint as the company ships billions of packages around the world. Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president, told Business Insider that eliminating air pillows indicated Amazon was serious about its plastic-reduction efforts in North America and that it was welcome news for oceans. Plastic air pillows are made with a film <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=bi-auto-70463-20&amp;h=c38415b31a84dfb5aa56a438e162cc317827951d6b626391c4e894a25633a2fd&amp;postID=66736386b38735ca9df50ca4&amp;postSlug=amazon-cutting-single-use-plastic-shipping-packaging-paper-recycling-2024-6&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41893-021-00720-8">that's commonly found littering marine areas</a>.Oceana recently <a target="_blank" href="https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2024/04/Amazons-United-States-of-Plastic-Oceana-Report-April-2024_reducedsize-1.pdf">estimated that Amazon generated</a> more than 94,000 metric tons of plastic-packaging waste in the US alone in 2022, a 9.6% increase over the previous year. That's enough to circle the Earth more than 200 times in the form of air pillows, Oceana said.Amazon disputes Oceana's figures and <a target="_blank" href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/2022-sustainability-report.pdf">reported a lower amount of plastic packaging across</a> its global operations in 2022: Nearly 86,000 metric tons, an 11.6% decrease from the previous year.Oceana said its estimates were higher than Amazon's because the company hadn't accounted for orders sent by third-party sellers. Those independent sellers account for <a target="_blank" href="https://sell.amazon.com/sell?ld=SEUSSOAGOOG-sitelink-guide-D&amp;tag=googhydr-20&amp;hvadid=664128654868&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvexid=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=11107216929719429337&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9007526&amp;hvtargid=kwd-297084214751&amp;ref=pd_sl_2vge9q2e84_b&amp;ld=SEUSSOAGOOG-BFBA12122B-CLK-D&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw4MSzBhC8ARIsAPFOuyXwoFqkDpXAG0SpyouCS4LjcgY7qHDkeWaOK2XItdtbw5ohJv0188UaAtm2EALw_wcB%5C">more than 60% of Amazon's sales</a>. Amazon's plastic-packaging data reflects orders shipped through its own fulfillment centers — which some independent sellers opt for — and through its grocery business. The data also isn't broken down by country."The first thing for us is to really test and learn and then scale what we can control within our own facilities," Pat Linder, Amazon's vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging, told BI. "That's been our focus."Linder pointed to an Amazon fulfillment center in Cleveland that last year became the first to eliminate plastic delivery packaging and replace it with paper that's curbside recyclable. The effort involved rebuilding existing machines that were using plastic to package products. Additionally, As well as being more sustainable, the recyclable paper is better at protecting orders from damage, Linder said.He added that Amazon would disclose the impact of these changes on the company's plastic use in a future sustainability report.That report is also set to detail Amazon's broader climate strategy. The company aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 while boosting sales and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-energy-centers-water-energy-land-2023-10">building more data centers</a> that demand vast amounts of electricity.In 2022, Amazon's carbon footprint dropped by 0.4% from the previous year, although it was still higher than in 2019, the first year Amazon reported its emissions.

Amazon is trying to eliminate plastic that doesn't get recycled. It's actually making some progress.       

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A ban on single-use plastics has support from three-quarters of people worldwide, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/75-people-want-single-use-plastics-banned-global-survey-finds-2022-02-22/?taid=6214414b39c1a300014bb400&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter">Reuters reported.</a></li><li>Countries will meet in Nairobi later this month to start negotiating a plastics treaty.</li></ul>Three-quarters of the world population want to ban single-use plastics like soda bottles, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/75-people-want-single-use-plastics-banned-global-survey-finds-2022-02-22/?taid=6214414b39c1a300014bb400&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter">according to a poll published by Reuters and IPSOS.</a>The survey marks an uptick from 71% who favored a similar action in 2019. The strongest support for a single-use plastics ban came from respondents in Mexico, Colombia, and India, all nations hard-hit by plastic pollution, according to Reuters.The poll, published early Tuesday London time, also found that 85% of those surveyed say that manufacturers and retailers should "be held responsible" for reducing the impact of <keyword id="12427295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-waste" source="Orion">plastic waste</keyword>. The survey polled 20,000 people from 28 countries."People worldwide have made their views clear," Marco Lambertini, director general of the World Wildlife Fund International, told Reuters of the survey. "The onus and opportunity is now on governments to adopt a global plastics treaty ... so we can eliminate plastic pollution."Governments will have an opportunity to forge such a treaty later this month. That's when representatives of different nations will meet in Nairobi to make plans for a pact on plastics, Reuters reported. The meeting is scheduled to span from Feb. 28 until March 2.Groups that lobby for oil and chemical companies, such as the American Chemistry Council, are pushing governments to avoid any agreements that would limit plastic production, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/un-pact-may-restrict-plastic-production-big-oil-aims-stop-it-2022-02-18/">an investigation by Reuters earlier this month found.</a> Petroleum products are a key ingredient for producing plastic.Ninety percent of those polled by the Reuters/IPSOS survey said they want a treaty to tackle plastic pollution, though a treaty could take a variety of forms, from focusing mostly on <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> efforts to broader curbs on plastic production.Major manufacturers that rely on single-use plastics have publicized commitments that fall into the first category. <keyword id="12109002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola" source="Orion">Coca-Cola</keyword>, for example, said earlier this month that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/coca-cola-criticized-plastic-pollution-pledges-25-reusable-packaging-2022-02-10/">make 25% of the packaging it uses worldwide reusable</a> by 2030. Rival <keyword id="12259147" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pepsico" source="Orion">PepsiCo</keyword> said in September that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/pepsico-slash-plastic-use-sustainability-push-2021-09-15/">reduce its use of virgin plastic in its packaging.</a>Plastic packaging from food, beverages, and other consumer goods has become common in the <keyword id="11901561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="environment" source="Orion">environment</keyword>. It has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6">accumulated in large patches in the Pacific Ocean</a> and can harm the health of humans and wildlife.The problem has become even worse during the pandemic, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oceans-polluted-with-approximately-tons-ppe-during-pandemic-2021-11">single-use plastics from hospitals accelerating pollution.</a>

You Searched For "single use plastic ban" and got 8 results

Zero waste lifestyle: 10 practical tips to get started

Kapil Yadav

Can India's 5,000-year-old disposable clay teacups compete with single-use plastic?

Insider

India bans 156 commonly used combination drugs citing possible risks to humans

ANI

Fighting our plastic problem: Bans and recycling mandates gain steam in the US and abroad

Catherine Boudreau

Surrogacy rules changed, couples with medical condition can use donor gametes

PTI

China stopped taking our plastic. Now America is drowning in it.

Taylor Dorrell

Amazon is trying to eliminate plastic that doesn't get recycled. It's actually making some progress.

Catherine Boudreau

Three-quarters of the world's population wants single-use plastics banned, according to new study

Alex Bitter

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides