plastic bag Archives - One Earth - One Ocean e. V.

International Day of Zero Waste

Frank Brodmerkel — Sat, 30 Mar 2024 07:17:07 +0000

Heute, am 30. März, findet der zweite Internationale Tag der Abfallvermeidung statt, ein entscheidender Moment inmitten der Abfallkrise auf unserem Planeten. Angesichts der Milliarden Tonnen Abfall, die jährlich anfallen, und der unzureichenden globalen Abfallbewirtschaftung ist dringender Handlungsbedarf gegeben.

Im Dezember 2022 erklärte die Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen den 30. März zum Internationalen Tag des Null-Abfalls und betonte damit die Notwendigkeit nachhaltiger Produktions- und Verbrauchspraktiken. Diese von der Türkei angeführte und von 105 Ländern unterstützte Initiative unterstreicht die Dringlichkeit, die Abfallwirtschaft weltweit zu verbessern.

Zero-Waste-Initiativen, die heute gefeiert werden, spielen eine entscheidende Rolle bei der Umsetzung der Agenda 2030 für nachhaltige Entwicklung. Durch die Priorisierung von Abfallvermeidung, Wiederverwendung und innovativem Design minimieren diese Initiativen die Umweltverschmutzung und den Abbau von Ressourcen.

Die Verwirklichung einer abfallfreien Gesellschaft erfordert kollektives Handeln. Die Verbraucher können etwas bewirken, indem sie ihre Konsumgewohnheiten ändern, während Regierungen und Industrie bei der Verbesserung von Politik und Infrastruktur zusammenarbeiten müssen.

Während des gesamten Tages werden die verschiedenen Interessengruppen aufgefordert, sich an Sensibilisierungsmaßnahmen zu beteiligen, die vom Umweltprogramm der Vereinten Nationen (UNEP) und dem Programm der Vereinten Nationen für menschliche Siedlungen (UN-Habitat) unterstützt werden.

Lassen Sie uns an diesem Internationalen Tag der Abfallfreiheit unser Engagement für eine nachhaltige Zukunft bekräftigen. Gemeinsam können wir eine Welt schaffen, in der Abfälle minimiert, Ressourcen geschont werden und unser Planet gedeiht.

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FTC Staff Warns Plastic Waste Bag Marketers That Their „Oxodegradable“

guenther — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:08:59 +0000

http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/10/ftc-staff-warns-plastic-waste-bag-marketers-their-oxodegradable

FTC Staff Warns Plastic Waste Bag Marketers That Their ?Oxodegradable?
Claims May Be Deceptive

October 21, 2014

Staff of the Federal Trade Commission has sent letters warning 15
marketers of ?oxodegradable? plastic waste bags that their
oxodegradable, oxo biodegradable, or biodegradable claims may be deceptive.

Oxodegradable plastic is made with an additive intended to cause it to
degrade in the presence of oxygen. Most waste bags are intended to be
deposited in landfills, however, where not enough oxygen likely exists
for oxodegradable bags to completely degrade in the time consumers
expect. Contrary to the marketing, therefore, these bags may be no more
biodegradable than ordinary plastic waste bags when used as intended.

?If marketers don?t have reliable scientific evidence for their claims,
they shouldn?t make them,? said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC?s
Bureau of Consumer Protection. ?Claims that products are environmentally
friendly influence buyers, so it?s important they be accurate.?

The staff notified 15 marketers that they may be deceiving consumers
based on the agency's 2012 revisions to its Guides For the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims (the Green Guides). Based on studies
about how consumers understand biodegradable claims, the Green Guides
advise that unqualified ?degradable? or ?biodegradable? claims for items
that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling
facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present
conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year.

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Feds warn plastic bag makers over misleading biodegradable claim

guenther — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:07:10 +0000

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/oct/31/biodegradable-plastic-oxodegradable-bags-bioplastic-ftc-warning

Feds warn plastic bag makers over misleading biodegradable claim

The FTC has warned 15 ?bio-friendly? plastic bag companies over
deceptive advertising ? but will it have any impact on the dubious
disposable plastics industry?

Greg Harman
Friday 31 October 2014 14.23 GMT

?Eco-friendly.? ?All natural.? ?Biodegradable.?

Store aisles are littered with nebulous descriptors of vague
environmental claims. Increasingly, however, the US Federal Trade
Commission is asking these companies to show the science behind their
adjectives ? or keep mum.

After launching detailed recommendations for environmental marketing in
2010, the FTC brought a raft of enforcement actions against plastic and
paper companies last year, alleging deceptive marketing in the use of
the term ?biodegradable?.

Last month, the FTC sent warning letters to 15 additional marketers,
informing them that their claims ?may be deceptive?. The FTC also
requested ?competent and reliable scientific evidence proving that their
bags will biodegrade as advertised?. This time, the term of offense is
?oxodegradable?, implying the bag will break down in time when exposed
to oxygen.

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Côte d’Ivoire Chokes on its Plastic Shopping Bags

guenther — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 21:48:43 +0000

http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/09/cote-divoire-chokes-on-its-plastic-shopping-bags/

Côte d?Ivoire Chokes on its Plastic Shopping Bags

By Marc-Andre Boisvert

ABDIJAN, Côte d?Ivoire, Sep 26 2014 (IPS) - In the middle of downtown
Abidjan, Côte d?Ivoire, the aisles of a thriving supermarket are full of
customers. But as they line up to pay for their items, there is one line
to a cashier?s till that remains empty. It?s the ?green cash register?,
where the cashier does not provide plastic bags as this supermarket
tries to implement a green policy.

?People do not find it convenient to bring their own bags. But they are
often angry that they have to line up while nobody comes here [to the
green cash register],? the cashier tells IPS.

Increasing environmental consciousness is not the sole reason for
Ivorian shops adopting green policies: the government has adopted new
laws that will affect consumers.

Each year, Côte d?Ivoire produces 200,000 tonnes of plastic bags of
which 40,000 go directly into the trash. Less than 20 percent of this
plastic is recycled.

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YOU and the EU vs the plastic bag

guenther — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 20:41:50 +0000

http://unric.org/en/latest-un-buzz/29140-you-and-the-eu-vs-the-plastic-bag

YOU and the EU vs the plastic bag

Wednesday, 09 April 2014 10:32

What the EU is doing and how you can help

EU could radically reduce its use of disposable plastic carrier bags
over the next 4 years, under plans put forward by the European
Commission in November 2013. Under the proposal, EU countries are
required to discourage the use of lightweight plastic bags, in whichever
way they see fit. Options include taxing or banning the use of carrier
bags, or implementing a national reduction target. The European
Parliament voted on a resolution in January 2014, stating the most
hazardous plastics and certain plastic bags should be banned by 2020, as
part of an EU strategy to reduce plastic waste in the environment. The
EU should also introduce binding plastic waste recycling targets, MEPs
added.

Every European citizen currently uses 198 single-use plastic bags every
year on average, which represents 1 bag per day for each household. But
annual usage varies considerably across the EU, ranging from 4 per
person in Denmark and Finland to 466 in Poland, Portugal and Slovakia.

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UNRIC’s newsletter 04/2014 – Plastic waste

Frank Brodmerkel — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 20:30:32 +0000

http://unric.org/en/latest-un-buzz/29158-this-month-in-unrics-newsletter

This month in UNRIC?s newsletter

Monday, 14 April 2014 10:16

14 April 2014 - Plastic waste is the main theme of our newsletter this
month.

The Icelandic tourist industry promotes Iceland as a "natural" and
"pure" destination. But French photographer Julien Joly encountered an
unexpected sight when he visited the remote beaches of Hornstrandir -
namely plastic. Lots of plastic.

It has long been a widespread belief that marine litter doesn?t cause
much damage. After all, the oceans are big enough to handle some bits of
plastic, right? Unfortunately, we have had it all wrong. The Great
Pacific Garbage Patch is now the size of Texas.

To disseminate knowledge about the world's massive plastic littering,
the Finnish UN Association has launched a competition where you can
propose a name for the "8th continent" - the trash vortex in the Pacific
Ocean.

On average, a European citizen uses 198 disposable plastic bags a year -
an alarmingly high number. Now, the European Parliament has voted on a
resolution which would ban certain plastic bags as of 2020.

And last, but not least, we have interviewed Bo Schack from UNHCR. He
shares with us his experience regarding the difficult work of providing
assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in Afghanistan.

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Marine debris in a World Heritage Listed Brazilian estuary

guenther — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 19:51:48 +0000

Fernanda E. Possatto, Henry L. Spach, André P. Cattani, Marcelo R.
Lamour, Lilyane O. Santos, Nathalie M.A. Cordeiro, Matt K. Broadhurst,
Marine debris in a World Heritage Listed Brazilian estuary, Marine
Pollution Bulletin, Available online 7 October 2014, ISSN 0025-326X,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.09.032.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14006419)
Abstract: Using monthly otter-trawl deployments, spatial and temporal
variability among the relative densities of marine debris were assessed
in the Paranaguá estuarine complex; a subtropical World Heritage Listed
area in southern Brazil. During 432 deployments over 12 months, 291
marine debris items were identified; of which most (92%) were plastic,
and more specifically shopping bags, food packages, candy wrappers and
cups typically >21 mm long. The most contaminated sectors were those
closest to Paranaguá city and the adjacent port, and had up to 23.37 ±
3.22 pieces ha?1. Less urbanized sectors had between 12.84 ± 1.49 and
9.32 ± 1.10 pieces ha?1. Contamination did not vary between dry or wet
seasons, but rather was probably affected by consistent urban disposal
and localized hydrological processes. Marine debris might be minimized
by using more environment friendly materials, however a concrete
solution requires adequately integrating local government and civil society.
Keywords: Marine litter; Pollution; Plastic bags; Plastic fragments;
Risk to marine life; Biodiversity hotspot

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Readers React California’s pseudo-environmentalist bag ban

guenther — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:40:40 +0000

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-1003-friday-plastic-bag-ban-20141003-story.html

Readers React
California's pseudo-environmentalist bag ban

OCTOBER 2, 2014, 4:09 PM

To the editor: For years I have shopped at Trader Joe's, always taking
my groceries home in a paper bag since the grocery chain does not have a
plastic bag option. During these years I have also participated in the
annual Friends of the L.A. River cleanups (as well as monthly local
beach cleanups), yet never once have I thought that plastic bags were
the biggest problem during those events. ("Statewide ban on disposable
plastic bags is signed into law by Brown," Sept. 30)

Now, Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to sign into law a ban on single-use
plastic bags (I don't know why they are labeled single-use, since they
are easily reused). This comes across as a way for Brown to make himself
look like he cares about the environment.

This ban simply puts more money in the pockets of store owners and
further strains those living on modest or fixed incomes. If Brown were a
true environmentalist, he would address other more important issues and
stop the state from bending laws to entice companies, such as Tesla
Motors, to build environmentally unfriendly plants here.

Carmen Valdés, Long Beach

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Statewide ban on disposable plastic bags is signed into law by Brown

guenther — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:38:57 +0000

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-pol-brown-bills-20141001-story.html

Statewide ban on disposable plastic bags is signed into law by Brown

By PATRICK MCGREEVY, MELANIE MASON

SEPTEMBER 30, 2014, 9:48 PM | REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO ?

California will have the nation's first statewide ban on disposable
plastic bags under a measure signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown, who
also expanded gun controls and personal privacy protections in an
eclectic final flurry of bill signings for the year.

The governor rejected several new ethics proposals, passed in the wake
of corruption scandals that have plagued the state Senate, saying the
measures would have complicated political rules while having little effect.

Many of the new laws were inspired by other headlines: Last spring's
slayings in Isla Vista, Calif., spurred a measure to allow the temporary
seizure of firearms from people deemed to be a threat, and revelations
about the federal government's spying programs led to fresh limits on
data collection.

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Gov. Brown signs phase-out of single-use plastic bags in stores

guenther — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:37:34 +0000

http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-gov-brown-signs-phaseout-of-singleuse-plastic-bags-in-stores-20140929-story.html

Gov. Brown signs phase-out of single-use plastic bags in stores

By PATRICK MCGREEVY

SEPTEMBER 30, 2014, 9:56 AM | REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday fulfilled a promise by signing a measure
that will phase out single-use plastic bags from checkout stands at
California supermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores and pharmacies.

California is the first state in the nation to enact such a ban at the
state level, creating a statewide standard after 127 cities and counties
in California, including the city of Los Angeles, have adopted local bag
ordinances.

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