Author: Monica Cerbon, translated from Spanish

Some of the companies that received the most plastic waste in the region, most of them American or European, have been accused of damaging the environment in various countries for their treatment of similar products. Interpol warns that this industry hides criminal risks. Only Peru entered 62,100 tons of plastic garbage between 2012 and 2022. An investigation by the Cross-Border Investigative Network of OjoPúblico and PopLab.

Author: Henry Belot

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have been ordered to dump more than 5,200 tonnes of soft plastic – currently being stored at warehouses across New South Wales – into landfill. The NSW Environment Protection Authority is concerned that huge amounts of soft plastic are being dangerously stored at 15 locations due to the suspension of botched recycling initiative REDcycle. REDcycle announced in November that it would pause collections at Woolworths and Coles after reports it was stockpiling plastic rather than recycling it.

Author: U.K. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has expressed surprise and disappointment after the government disagreed with key recommendations in its report on dealing with the growing problem of plastic waste. The cross-party MPs’ parliamentary scrutiny body conducted an extensive inquiry beginning in July 2021. The headline recommendation of its report, published in November 2022, called for a ban on the export of all plastic waste – a large amount of which ends up being illegally dumped – by the end of 2027.  

Author: Marissa Heffernan

A federal judge ruled that a Burnaby, British Columbia company owes an international shipping company $4.3 million Canadian dollars over plastics shipments rejected by the Thai government, the second such suit brought against the company. That’s about $3.2 million USD. Hapag-Lloyd Aktiengesellschaft took legal action against materials exporter Golden Trust Trading on March 18, 2022 after the shipping giant said it transported 33 containers of PET, PP and PVC film bales from Vancouver to Bangkok in spring 2019 that were rejected by the Thai government.

Author: James Bruggers

The plastics industry’s quest to solve the problem of plastic waste through so-called “advanced” recycling—using chemical additives and sometimes extremely high heat to turn waste back into new plastics—is costly and comes with significant environmental impacts, according to new research from the federal government’s National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado. Government researchers singled out two prominent “advanced” technologies—pyrolysis and gasification—as particularly problematic, saying they should not even be considered “closed-loop” recycling technologies.

Author: Valentina Romano

The Parliament’s report on the EU’s waste shipment regulation was adopted by a large majority, with 594 votes in favour, 5 against and 43 abstentions. The law is now ready to enter the final stages of adoption, with talks to be scheduled later this year between the European Parliament and EU member states to finalise the text.