The Lego Group will move away from single-use plastic bags in its kits, the group announced on Tuesday. “From 2021, Forest Stewardship Council-certified recyclable paper bags will be trialed in boxes,” the company said.
The law, which is expected to come into force in 2021, means that selling, supplying or distributing a “prohibited plastic product” will be illegal. The list of banned items includes plastic straws, cutlery, and drink stirrers, as well as polystyrene cups, bowls, plates, and clamshell containers.
Use of plastic carrier bags in England has continued to fall – by 59% in the last year alone – since the introduction of the 5p charge. Sales of single-use plastic bags have dropped by 95% in England’s supermarkets since the charge was introduced in October 2015.
Ocean Voyages Institute’s marine plastic recovery vessel, S/V KWAI completed a 48-day expedition, successfully removing 103 tons of fishing nets and consumer plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The new bottle, developed in partnership with venture management company Pilot Lite, will be made from sustainably sourced pulp to meet food-safe standards and will be fully recyclable in standard waste streams.
Tide Turners, launched in 2019 by the UN Environment Programme encourages young people to alter their attitude towards plastic consumption and spark behavioral change in their communities.
All retail outlets across the country are required to charge customers for the use of plastic bags. The new requirement is an attempt by the government to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the country’s rivers, forests, streams and, ultimately, surrounding oceans.
Germany is banning the sale of single-use plastic straws, cotton buds and food containers, bringing it in line with a European Union directive intended to reduce the amount of plastic garbage that pollutes the environment.
The Indian unit of Amazon has eliminated all single-use plastic in its packaging across fulfillment centers in the country, in line with its target to weed out the packaging material by June.
The plans, devised by renewable chemicals company Avantium, have already won the support of beer-maker Carlsberg, which hopes to sell its pilsner in a cardboard bottle lined with an inner layer of plant plastic.
