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Leaders vs Laggards on Sustainable Chemical Use
ChemSec published this year's ChemScore. It is an annual ranking of the world’s 50 largest global chemical companies based on their environmental impact and treatment of hazardous chemicals, setting the benchmark for a sustainable chemicals industry. This year they found that 38 out of 50 companies (76%) are actively marketing greener, sustainable products on their website. Yet no companies were found to have public information on global hazardous chemicals production; only 4 out of 50 (8%) showed evidence of a public strategy with plans to phase out existing hazardous chemicals; and all continue to produce hazardous chemicals in dangerously high numbers.
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Newest IPEN Reports
Plastic Waste Fuels
IPEN studies show how policy is driving massive investment in plastic waste-to-fuel processing, and that exports are threatening waste management in ASEAN countries and undermining the Basel Convention and climate change commitments.
Plastic Poisons the Circular Economy
IPEN published a number of studies showing significant obstacles for countries seeking to implement safe plastic circular economies. The studies reveal that countries are unable to handle large volumes of diverse plastics waste streams safely, and the reality that, without regulations requiring plastic ingredients to be labeled, countries are blindly allowing known toxic chemicals onto their markets in plastic products.
Plastic pellets found on beaches all over the world contain toxic chemicals
Preproduction plastics as pellets, or "nurdles", can carry many different chemicals, both those added to the plastics and pollutants that attach (sorb) to them in the environment. Often lost during production, transportation, and storage, pellets have been found on beaches all over the world since the 1970s. This study of plastic pellets gathered from beaches in 23 different countries contained many chemicals of concern, some in very high concentrations.
Widespread chemical contamination of recycled plastic pellets globally
Because almost all plastics contain toxic chemicals, recycling processes can perserve and can even generate toxic chemicals, such as dioxins. In this study, pellets made from recycled HDPE, intended for use in new products, were purchased from 24 recyclers in 23 countries and analyzed for 18 substances. The large number of toxic chemicals in many of the samples highlights the need to rethink recycling to ensure it does not perpetuate harms..
Plastic’s Toxic Chemical Problem: A Growing public health crisis
This summary of our two plastic pellets reports encapsulate the broad issues related to toxic chemicals in plastics and the concerns with recycling processes that can perserve or generate toxic chemicals.
Plastic Waste Management Hazards
Plastic waste has become an unprecedented pollution issue, blanketing our planet in the petrochemical remnants of plastic production. This report examines current and emerging methods by which plastic waste is managed globally and questions whether any of them present a solution to the rapidly accelerating generation of plastic waste. In short, they don't and the only long-term answer is to produce less plastic.
Regional Coordinator
Arnika Association
Based in the Czech Republic
Arnika works to protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals and promote the use of safer alternatives. The organization proposes the economical use of resources and reduction of waste. We do not want waste to end up in landfills or incinerators. We promote for everyone to have the right to information on dangerous substances in the environment. Our campaigns do not concern only the Czech Republic, but European and international projects as well. We serve as the Central, Eastern & Western Europe Regional Hub for IPEN and host secretariats for the Dioxin and Waste Working Group as well as the Toxic Metals Working Group for IPEN.
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