Recent studies perform semi-systematic review of published circular economy literature focusing on plastics over past 21 years, develop framework for plastics in circular economy; find Dutch food packaging plastic waste polluting oceans, question effectiveness of recycling; summarize chemical and microbial hazards related to circular food production systems
Investors urge major companies to reduce single-use plastic packaging
Investors with over $10 trillion in assets call for urgent action to reduce single-use plastic packaging in the fast-moving consumer goods and grocery retail sectors; cite environmental, climate, and public health threats posed by the entire plastics lifecycle; express concern over the financial risks to companies and investors
FPF Workshop 2020: Values and transparency in science
Kevin Elliott discusses how values can influence scientific judgements or be themselves affected by them; transparency plays an important role in responding to challenges caused by value-laden judgements; contents and venues chosen for transparent communication need to be adjusted according to each stakeholder’s needs
VZBV finds consumers are confused about food contact materials
Market research from German consumer organization Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV) finds consumers are concerned about food packaging safety but have little understanding of chemicals in packaging; consumers assume all food contact materials and their components have been tested for safety
Plastic recycling: Future scenarios and behavioral influences
Five articles discuss future recycling and/or consumer waste sorting; outline future recycling technologies and recycled plastic applications; identify gaps between recycling technologies and targets of multi-material multilayer plastic packaging; find consumers wrongly dispose bioplastics and that packaging design affects sorting behavior; show single-use bag bans able to increase recycling contamination
Phthalates: impact on leiomyoma growth and mixture risk
Study identifies mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) exposure as high-risk factor for leiomyoma growth on epidemiological and mechanistic level; European biomonitoring of five reprotoxic phthalates demonstrates necessity to integrate mixture risk assessment into regulatory practice; targeted analysis shows migration of five phthalates from polypropylene food packaging
Scientists explore effects of micro- and nanoplastics on mammals, including humans
Research studies show maternal polystyrene (PS) particle exposure can cause testicular and hepatic toxicity in male mouse offspring; report PS microplastics affect rat ovary function; find correlation between human fecal microplastics levels and Inflammatory Bowel Disease; reviews summarize potential human health effects; study develops a tool to screen and prioritize micro-and nanoplastics toxicity studies for human health risks evaluation
Reusable take-away food packaging outperforms single-use in greenhouse gas emissions, report says
Zero Waste Europe investigates CO2 emissions of reusable and single use take-away packaging; models suggest that switching to reuse results in less emissions for most packaging; includes number of rotations and return rates to reach breakeven point
BPA still in food cans
Extensive analysis in the U.S. and Canada finds most food cans still coated with BPA-based epoxy; BPA-free alternatives may be questionable
Micro- and nanoplastics are released from different food contact articles
Researchers report cooking in non-stick Teflon cookware may lead to the release of thousands of micro- and nanoplastics; find 3 to 43 plastic particles prone to be released from Chinese polypropylene takeaway containers; detect around 1,500 microplastics/liter in Iranian bottled water; review points out that micro- and nanoplastic detection methods in food need validation and standardization