“High levels of mercury, plastic toxins found in stranded whales, dolphins”

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/08/10/High-levels-of-mercury-plastic-toxins-found-in-stranded-whales-dolphins/8951596826663/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TopNews2020Aug10&utm_content=TopNews2020Aug10+CID_c75460a2593f5ea0a8d4b6dc05bb8681&utm_source=CM&utm_term=Toxins%20found%20in%20stranded%20whales%20dolphins%20in%20Southeast%20US

Dolphins and whales stranded on beaches in the southeastern United States had high levels of toxins, including mercury and chemicals found in plastic, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

Scientists who led the study said the data provides new, troubling information about the impact of pollution on marine mammals — knowledge that could help save vulnerable and declining species.

“These Lobsters Can Breakdown Microplastics – And That’s Bad News”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/allenelizabeth/2020/04/19/these-lobsters-can-breakdown-microplasticsand-thats-bad-news/#b10a4296fcb0

As the microplastic pieces swallowed by the lobster make it through the gastric mill, the pieces are ground into even smaller particles that can go through the lobster’s digestive tract. Presumably, these tiny plastic particles are eventually released back into the seawater with the lobster’s other undigested excrement.

Unfortunately, in producing even tinier plastic pieces, these lobsters are releasing microplastics that smaller animals may confuse for food. In other words, the lobster’s grinding of plastic may expand the number of ocean animals at risk of accidentally eating plastic.

“China Unveils Plan to Reduce Single-Use Plastic by 2025”

https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/china-unveils-sweeping-plan-to-reduce-single-use-plastic-by-2025

China’s top economic planner said it would cut the production and use of plastic over the next five years, helping reduce one of the world’s biggest sources of plastic pollution.

“The massive plastic-cleaning device invented by a 25-year-old is finally catching trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch”

https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-cleanup-catches-plastic-great-pacific-garbage-patch-2019-10

• In 2013, at age 19, the entrepreneur Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that aims to rid the ocean of plastic.
• The organization designed a device to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a trash-filled vortex in the ocean that’s more than twice the size of Texas.
• The system has gone through multiple iterations since the first version spilled the plastic it collected back into the water.

“There’s a Tiny Plastic Enemy Threatening the Planet’s Oceans”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-11/there-s-a-tiny-plastic-enemy-threatening-the-earth-s-oceans?srnd=premium-europe

“Nurdles” may be a big source of marine pollution, and shareholder advocates want to know what’s being done.

“Dead sperm whale found in Indonesia had ingested ‘6kg of plastic'”

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46275742

A dead sperm whale that washed ashore in a national park in Indonesia had nearly 6kg (13 lbs) of plastic waste in its stomach, park officials say.

“This Thiel-Backed Startup Says It Can Clean Up the Seas. Scientists Have Doubts”

Link

BOTTOM LINE – Ocean Cleanup is about to try to show the world that its ambitious plastic-sweeping plan can work, but serious questions remain, and the endeavor alone can’t solve the problem.

“Carlsberg Will Glue Together Its Beer Cans to Cut Down on Plastic”

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-06/britons-among-first-to-try-out-carlsberg-with-much-less-plastic?srnd=premium-europe

In its effort to use less plastic in its products, Carlsberg A/S will start gluing together the beer cans it sells in six-packs around the world.

“Saving the Mediterranean with Yellow Ducks”

How to bring home the sheer volume of plastic waste in the oceans? Fill the bay of Cannes with yellow plastic ducks.

“China’s plastic waste ban will leave 111 million tons of trash with nowhere to go”

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/20/17484866/chinas-plastic-waste-import-ban-trash

China’s recent crackdown on the import of plastic waste will result in millions of tons of displaced plastic trash, according to new research. The ban will force countries like the US to find new ways to deal with their own trash.