The Lie of Plastic Recycling Bloomberg investigative reporter Kit Chellel put two trackers inside pieces of plastic and deposited them in recycling bins at 3 Tesco locations in the UK. The linked video provides a fascinating look inside a “hidden ecosystem that very few people have oversight of… dirty smelly places to be sorted and … more
Fuel from the Red Hill Naval facility on Oahu, Hawaii, leaked into a water system servicing over 90,000 residents in November 2021. As the situation evolves, Safe Piping Matters is sharing developments along with recommendations based on research studies and lessons learned from previous contamination events… more
Companies cannot continue ignoring the full impacts of the goods they produce, including depletion of unrenewable materials and pollution of the environment. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) considers these previously untracked financial and environmental costs and seeks to establish systems that will pay for them. Plastic has emerged as a prime focus of EPR initiatives. Here’s why…… more
Building Evolution – A Look at Materials, Part 1: Risk Over the past several decades, the materials used to construct and build commercial and multi-unit residential structures have changed significantly. In particular, the construction and interior furnishings industries increasingly use plastics instead of natural materials such as wood, metal, glass and natural fibers. A recent … more
Environmentalists and residents recently forced Formosa Plastics, a plastics supplier described by judges as a “serial offender” against the environment, to suspend the construction of a proposed 2,400 acre petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana. … more
The model had shown promise in Flint before officials rebelled. Now Toledo is using it, while incorporating more public input. … more
The study concludes that thermally damaged drinking water pipes can be sources of VOC leaching. … more
Andrew Whelton’s latest study confirms that plastic drinking water pipes release benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the water supply when exposed to extreme heat. … more
There are many factors that contribute to air pollution: the burning of fossil fuels, the release of chemical pesticides, and now plastic pollution. But how does plastic cause air pollution? … more
Historic wildfires raging from California to Colorado are weakening watersheds and setting the stage for deadly mudslides and flooding and, in some places, threatening to poison critical water supplies… more