Plastic Pollution

Canada 'will ban' single-use plastics in 2021

"I am very pleased to announce that as early as 2021 Canada will ban harmful, single-use plastics from coast to coast," says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

World marks Oceans Day amid concerns over plastic pollution

"Today, 13,000,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the oceans every year, what among other damage, kill 100,000 marine animals annually," the UN says.

EU parliament approves ban on single-use plastics

Plastic items such as straws, forks and knives as well as cotton buds will be banned in EU by 2021 as the economic bloc pushes manufacturers to step up their recycling efforts.

Not so fantastic: Can Japan end its love affair with plastic?

The push comes ahead of the G20 summit, which Japan will host in Osaka in June. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government wants to use the meeting to push for an agreement on reducing marine plastic waste.

Plastic a thorn in South Korea's side as waste problem piles up

Ever since China banned imports of almost all recycled waste, piles of trash have begun appearing around big cities in South Korea.

Greenpeace calls on Turkish supermarkets to reduce plastic footprint

TRT World talks to Greenpeace Mediterranean Project Coordinator Deniz Bayram about how Turkish consumers can reduce their plastics usage and what supermarkets can do to help.

Sperm whale washed up in Indonesia had plastic bottles, bags in stomach

The cause of death was not known, but park officials found plastic bottles, bags, sandals, and a sack with more than 1,000 pieces of string in the whale's stomach.

Can growing seaweed help Indonesia resolve its marine waste problem?

Indonesia is the world's second biggest marine plastic waste contributor after China, according to the Indonesian government. One entrepreneur believes growing seaweed might help resolve the Southeast Asian nation's problem.

Chile enacts historic ban on plastic bags

Chileans use an average of 3,400 million plastic bags per year and at least 90 percent of them end up in landfills or in the sea.

Plastic waste in Antarctica reveals scale of global pollution

The United Nations’ environment agency says plastic pollution has been detected from the Arctic to Antarctica and in remote places, including the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world’s oceans in the Pacific.

Lebanon volunteers on a beach clean-up mission

Oceans are being polluted at an alarming rate. Lebanese volunteers have taken it upon themselves to clean the beaches of Batroun, which is flooded with rubbish rather than beachgoers.