WA project gives new view of plastic dump sites in world’s worst ocean polluters

WA project gives new view of plastic dump sites in world’s worst ocean polluters

A new global tool aims to help governments tackle the leakage of plastic into the sea,taking regularly updated satellite vision to create a high-resolution map.

  • byPeter de Kruijff

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Queensland research base to study impact of microplastics on human health

Queensland research base to study impact of microplastics on human health

University of Queensland researchers will investigate exactly what effect microplastics are having on human health,with a new lab set up in partnership with the Minderoo Foundation.

  • byStuart Layt
Dropped masks threaten to tangle in the happy feet of Phillip Island’s penguins

Dropped masks threaten to tangle in the happy feet of Phillip Island’s penguins

Almost 230 abandoned facemasks were found by Phillip Island rangers in January,posing a threat to the island’s favourite inhabitants.

  • byMiki Perkins
Perth council helps pay for period cups to urge women to ditch tampons

Perth council helps pay for period cups to urge women to ditch tampons

For decades disposable sanitary products have dominated the supermarket shelves,but a Perth council is offering a financial incentive for women to ditch single use period products in favour of reusable ones.

  • bySarah Brookes
Why is there still so much plastic in the world – and what could replace it?
Explainer
Pollution

Why is there still so much plastic in the world – and what could replace it?

Plastic is great until you need to get rid of it. Why has it taken over the world,how big a problem is it – and what can we do about it?

  • bySherryn Groch
‘Very high’ levels of microplastic waste at some of Sydney’s most popular beaches

‘Very high’ levels of microplastic waste at some of Sydney’s most popular beaches

There were more than 4000 microplastics per square metre on average at the most poorly rated of Sydney’s harbour beaches,data collected by citizen scientists shows. Use our interactive map to check your local waterways.

  • byAndrew Taylor
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Morrison and Perrottet would think twice about balloons if they walked in my shoes
Opinion
Opinion

Morrison and Perrottet would think twice about balloons if they walked in my shoes

Each morning as I walk along my local beach in southern NSW,I collect the debris that the night’s high tide has left strewn along the shore. Sometimes,I find more than just the rubbish. And it’s heartbreaking.

  • byKaren Joynes
WHO warns of strain from spike in plastic waste during pandemic

WHO warns of strain from spike in plastic waste during pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated millions of tonnes of plastic waste,including discarded face masks,gloves and protective medical gear.

  • byMiki Perkins
A big blue in a small Southern Highlands town over a giant plastics plant

A big blue in a small Southern Highlands town over a giant plastics plant

​​​​A proposal to build Australia’s largest plastic recycling plant on the fringes of the Southern Highlands township of Moss Vale has prompted a storm of local protest.

  • byDeb Richards
Single-use plastics to be phased out in the New Year

Single-use plastics to be phased out in the New Year

Single-use plastic bowls,cups,plates,cutlery,stirrers,straws,expanded polystyrene food containers,thick plastic bags and helium balloon releases will all be phased out as of Saturday.

  • byHolly Thompson
Great Pacific Garbage Patch now ‘an immense floating plastic habitat’

Great Pacific Garbage Patch now ‘an immense floating plastic habitat’

A giant patch of garbage in the Pacific Ocean is now “an immense floating plastic habitat” for marine animals clinging to it,researchers have found.

  • byChristine Fernando