Plastic Trap: New project pulls plastics out of the lakes, one floating garbage can at a time

An estimated 9,887 metric tonnes (22 million pounds) of plastics make their way into the Great Lakes every year. Now a new project aims not only to suck out some of that plastic but stop it from getting into the lakes in the first place.

It began last summer with Toronto Harbour’s installation of three Seabins – devices that look like trash cans in the water but behave like vacuum cleaners, said Christopher Hilkene, CEO of Pollution Probe.

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Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/seabins-trap-plastics-great-lakes-canada/

Sharon Oosthoek

Banned: Canada takes next step toward zero plastic waste by 2030

Canada took the next step in its effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030 last week when it announced a ban on certain single-use plastic items that its environmental protection and policy agency says are not often recycled.

The ban includes check-out bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery and foodware items, according to a press release from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/canada-zero-plastic-waste-toxic-ban/

Gary Wilson

COVID-19 has resurrected single-use plastics – are they back to stay?

By Jessica Heiges, University of California, Berkeley and Kate O’Neill, University of California, Berkeley, The Conversation

 is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.

COVID-19 is changing how the U.S. disposes of waste. It is also threatening hard-fought victories that restricted or eliminated single-use disposable items, especially plastic, in cities and towns across the nation.

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Original Article

Great Lakes Now

Great Lakes Now

https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/covid-19-single-use-plastics/

The Conversation