Beyond Plastic

What you need to know about efforts to move on from plastic.

• People around the world are trying to come up with solutions ‘beyond plastic’: to find ways to stop producing plastic items many of us rely on every day.
• Some progress has already been made: the EU has recently banned the use of ten everyday single-use plastic items such as polystyrene cups, plastic cotton bud sticks, straws and party balloon sticks.
• Single-use plastic plates and cutlery and polystyrene cups will also be banned in the United Kingdom.
• But while efforts to ban more items from the shelves or label plastic products more clearly are under way, many other plastics remain in production and put enormous pressure on the environment.
• The US plastics industry alone is on track to release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal-powered electricity generating plants by the end of the decade.
• We have compiled a readlist of articles about what is being done to develop sustainable and usable alternatives to plastic.