On June 3, 2022, The Last Beach Cleanup filed two lawsuits against retailers Gelson’s Market and Stater Brothers for allegedly selling illegal, non-recyclable plastic bags to California consumers in violation of SB270, which was voted into law by California voters in 2016.
The conversation around plastics is too often focused on false downstream solutions like clean up and recycling—ignoring the fact that most plastic cannot be recycled and ends up incinerated, in landfills, or in oceans and waterways. These false solutions, which have been propagated by the fossil fuel industry for decades, blame the consumer for an inability to clean up a product that never goes away.
Today at the One Ocean Summit, the United States, France, Canada, and South Korea announced their commitment to a binding treaty to tackle plastic pollution at all stages of its lifecycle. This announcement comes ahead of the 5th UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2), which will be held February 28–March 2, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nearly 1,000 organizations have signed on to a call for the United Nations to ratify a new legally binding global instrument that covers plastic pollution across its entire life cycle—from extraction to disposal. These organizations represent civil society, indigenous peoples, workers and trade unions, and other organizations, as well as scientists from around the world.
A delegation of Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) Youth Ambassadors attended the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, held October 31–November 12.
A settlement has been reached on the lawsuit that The Last Beach Cleanup filed against TerraCycle and eight consumer product companies based on “unlawful and deceptive recycling claims.” The Last Beach Cleanup announced the Settlement Agreement today, “America Recycles Day,” to highlight the need for truth and transparency by product companies on recycling claims and labels.
