Newsletters

Plastics Scorecard and Valuing Plastic, two recent reports demonstrate how companies need to pay attention to the chemicals in plastics and the end of life impacts of plastics. For companies looking to reduce their environmental footprint, including… …

Why companies need to do hazard assessments of alternatives … Testing for flame retardants in general consumer and children’s products by the state’s Department of Ecology found many “regrettable substitutions.” … …

Since 1976, when Congress enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) the EPA released its second final risk assessment for trichloroethylene (the first risk assessment covered asbestos). It focuses on the health risks from TCE exposure through… …

Environmental impacts of plastic use are a business liability, says a new report from the Plastic Disclosure Project, United National Environment Program and business consultants Trucost. By quantifying plastics use, the report suggests, companies… …

Is the chemistry safer? We’re excited about displacing fossil fuels as the feedstocks for plastics. Recent research in the UK demonstrates that plastics can be made out of chemicals extracted from lignin – a hydrocarbon that provides… …

Are the alternatives to HBCD safer? The US EPA’s Design for Environment program released its final report identifying alternatives to the flame retardant HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane). A persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT) chemical with… …

What are the societal costs of hazardous chemicals? A report from the European NGO, Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), finds that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in products and food may cost the EU up to €31 billion (more… …

Who thought it was a good idea to put small, plastic beads that last forever in products that go down the drain? Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed the nation’s first bill banning the manufacture and sale synthetic plastic microbeads in… …