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microplasticslatest news & developments
Former forestry, fisheries and the environment minister Dion George. (@DrDionGeorge/X)

Plastic pollution is a public health emergency, says Dion George

The environment minister said the failure to achieve a global plastics treaty could have been avoided

Canisters and bottles collected for the study at a remote stretch of beach in De Hoop Nature Reserve. (Peter Ryan)

New study finds brightly coloured plastics may contribute more to microplastic pollution

Red, blue and green plastics degrade to form microplastics quicker than those that aren’t as bright

Antartica’s redesigned flag aims to focus attention on the microplastic crisis affecting the remote, pristine region

New ‘microplastic’ flag for Antarctica

The redesigned flag aims to focus attention on the microplastic crisis affecting the remote region

An international team of researchers has developed a breakthrough microscopic technique that can detect minute particles of plastic in bottled water that can pass into human blood, cells and the placenta. (Photo by Hendrik Schmidt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Bottled water in US found to contain miniscule pieces of plastic

Nanoplastics are the ‘spawn of microplastics that have broken down even further’, researchers said

Mt. Fuji, straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in central Japan, on Aug. 11, 2023. (Photo by Kyodo News via Getty Images)

Microplastics found in cloud water may worsen climate change

The first study on airborne microplastics discovered that the tiny plastic particles are affecting cloud formation

Photo: Laura Lezza/Getty Images

Plastic pollution could be slashed by 80% in next 17 years

This can be done by 2040 if there are changes in the market, a United Nations report has found

Stuck: The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment does not support establishing a new multilateral environmental agreement on plastics, according to a leaked document, and to the dismay of environmentalists. Photo: Paul Botes

Plastic: South Africa is 11th-biggest litterbug

The country risks ‘pariah status’ for approach to global plastic waste crisis

(Graphic: John McCann/M&G)

Death or taxes for polluting plastic

South Africa’s apathetic attitude to plastic use requires an intervention — but what would work here?