Speakers at the ‘Basel Plastics Amendments First Year Report Card’, a side event organised by the Basel Action Network | Photo by Break Free From Plastic
Environment Advocates Call on Leaders to Stop Waste Colonialism in Africa!
During a side event organised by the Basel Action Network at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in Geneva, Switzerland on 13 June 2022, civil society organisations led by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) presented a letter, signed by 69 individuals and 136 organisations. The letter calls on African leaders to enforce new and existing legislation that protects the rights of all Africans to a safe, clean and healthy environment. It also calls on world leaders to take a stand against waste colonialism in Africa and Global North waste exports.
Photo: Adrian Ilman/Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia | Aliansi Zero Waste Indonesia asks Unilever to #QuitSachets
Despite public lies, Unilever lobbied against banning sachets in three Asian countries
New reporting in Reuters reveals how Unilever lobbied against proposed bans on sachets in Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines, even as CEO Alan Jope was proclaiming publicly that "we have to get rid of them."
Despite Jope’s public remarks, Unilever continued selling 6-milliliter (ml) single-portion sachets of shampoo even after Sri Lanka banned sachets smaller than 20 ml last year … by relabeling the packages to indicate that they should be sold in four-packs! Unilever also lobbied against proposed bans on plastic sachets in India and the Philippines, where these bans were later dropped by lawmakers in both countries.
Exposing the Threat of Microplastics in Agriculture
Brief by the Center for International Law (CIEL) analyzes the presence of microplastics in the agricultural sector, revealing a new facet of the toxic triad formed by agrochemicals, plastics, and the fossil fuels used to make them.
Learn how microplastics in agrochemicals are impacting our soil, our food, our health and the environment, and what policymakers can do to prevent further harm.
Photo of Canadian Parliament, Canada bans single-use plastics
Canada bans “harmful” single-use plastics, while activists call for bigger systemic solutions
Good news! Canada will prohibit the manufacture and importation of single-use plastic bags, food containers, and other "harmful" single-use plastics by the end of this year. Businesses will then have one year to stop selling these same plastics, and the country will also ban exports of its own plastic waste by December 2025.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau notes that, "Over the next 10 years, this ban will result in the estimated elimination of over 1.3 million tonnes of plastic waste," but Greenpeace Canada says the country must do much more to lead.
