New York City plans to extent current bisphenol A ban by prohibiting 6 BPA substitutes in children’s products
EU Parliament debates single-use plastics
EU Parliament debates directive on reducing marine litter from plastics, including restrictions for specific single-use plastic products; final vote scheduled for October 24, 2018
PFAS actions in three US states
California expected to pass bill banning PFAS in food packaging; Michigan legislators reintroduce bill to ban PFAS, phthalates, and bisphenols in food packaging; Massachusetts’ Toxics Use Reduction Act program votes for expanding reporting requirements
Corporate plastic commitments not expected to meet 2025 targets
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) reports progress, or lack thereof, on corporate packaging commitments set for 2025; plastic pact signatories increased portfolio of recycled, recyclable, or compostable products by 2% between 2019 and 2021; reuse decreased, and virgin plastic use increased; EMF calling for stronger governmental action and support of UN plastic pollution treaty
Maine bill on phthalates and PFAS
U.S. State of Maine passes legislation aiming to eliminate phthalates and PFAS from food packaging from 2020, establish a system to assess further substances of concern in FCMs
Food packaging regulation in Latin America
Keller and Heckman LLP reprints Food Packaging Bulletin article giving an update on the regulation of food packaging in Latin America (MERCOSUR block)
IKEA recalls travel mug for containing DBP
International retailer issues recall for all “Troligtvis” travel mugs made in India; recent testing finds levels of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that exceed company’s set limits; phthalates have been prohibited in all IKEA food contact articles for years
Report: European supermarkets falling short on packaging commitments
Changing Markets Foundation and Break Free From Plastic investigate plastic pollution related actions made by 74 of the largest European supermarkets; Total average score of retailers was just 13/100, only Aldi UK and Aldi Ireland scored above 60; over 80% of companies had no information on total plastic use which “casts doubt” over plastic reduction pledges because there is no baseline data
DuPont separates from fluorinated chemicals
DuPont announces sales of Titanium Technologies and Chemicals& Fluoroproducts businesses, part of portfolio enhancement
IPCP calls for global science-policy body on chemicals
Academic scientists from the International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP) publish article in journal Science, call for creation of new global science-policy body to address pollution from chemicals and waste; new body to provide scientific basis for international and national action via authoritative assessments, identifying emerging concerns, connecting policy makers to scientists