Microbes could be the solution to our waste plastics problem

By Ishara Yahampath, guest contributor Globally, 400 metric tonnes of plastic are produced annually: 40% is single-use, resulting in significant waste. Every year, 29,000 tonnes of plastic are released into Canada’s environment, causing serious environmental problems—the accumulation of plastic waste in land and water ecosystems, leakage of harmful microbes into the environment, and threats to […]

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The rising concern about plastic pollution: imminent consequences and possible solutions

By Christine Thou, Environmental Sciences editor In December 2019, residents of the Isle of Harris in Scotland found a dead sperm whale washed up on a beach. The whale died after ingesting 220 pounds of plastic that had been carelessly discarded into the ocean. Over the last 60 years, plastic products have been used to […]

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Microplastics: Small pieces of plastic with a big impact

Image by chesbayprogram, CC BY-NC 2.0

Dorottya Harangi, Health, Medicine & Veterinary Sciences editor In 2016, 29,000 tonnes of plastic entered Canada’s marine ecosystem. That may sound like a lot, but it amounts to only one per cent of the country’s total plastic waste. Experts estimate that, by 2050, there will be about 12,000,000 kilotonnes of plastic waste in the global […]

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Planet Earth or Planet Plastic? It’s getting hard to tell…

Catherine Lau, Biology & Life Sciences co-editor; Tanya Samman, Environment & Earth Sciences co-editor; and Lené Gary, General Science co-editor Plastic is lightweight, flexible, durable, and relatively inexpensive to produce and buy. These qualities make it ubiquitous in everyday life. Although it certainly makes our lives easier, the fact that we can carelessly dispose of […]

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