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Plastics

From Gas Wells to Rubber Ducks to Incineration, the Plastics Lifecycle Causes ‘Horrific Harm’ to the Planet and People, Report Shows

With plastic production expected to triple by 2060, a scientific commission this week recommended banning or severely restricting the manufacture and use of unnecessary plastics.

By James Bruggers

Jay Schabel, president of the plastics division at Brightmark, holds plastic pellets in his hand the company's new chemical recycling plant in northeast Indiana at the end of July. The pellets are made from plastic waste and sent into chemical processing equipment to make diesel fuel, naphtha, and wax. Credit: James Bruggers

Congress Urges EPA to Maintain Clean-Air Regulations on Chemical Recycling of Plastics

By James Bruggers

A view of Shell Chemical's new multi billion-dollar ethane cracker plant processing plant across the Allegheny River can be seen under construction Oct. 27, 2017 in Monaca, Pennsylvania. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

A New Shell Plant in Pennsylvania Will ‘Just Run and Run’ Producing the Raw Materials for Single-Use Plastics

By James Bruggers

In August 2019, President Donald Trump toured the Shell plant in Monaca, Pennsylvania, while it was under construction. He was joined by Energy Secretary Rick Perry (L), Shell Oil company President Gretchen Watkins (2nd L) and Shell Pennsylvania Vice President Hilary Mercer (3rd R). Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

A New Shell Plant in Pennsylvania Will Soon Become the State’s Second Largest Emitter of Volatile Organic Chemicals

By Reid Frazier, StateImpact Pennsylvania

Smoke billows from one of many chemical plants in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," one of the most polluted areas of the United States. It lies along the once pristine Mississippi River that stretches 80 miles from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, where a dense concentration of oil refineries, petrochemical plants and other chemical facilities occupy sites alongside suburban homes. Credit: Giles

Judge Tosses Air Permits For $9.4 Billion Louisiana Plastics Plant

By James Bruggers

Large amounts of trash and plastic refuse collect in Ballona Creek after a major rain storm in Culver City, California. Credit: Citizen of the Planet/UIG via Getty Images

California Attorney General Investigates the Oil and Gas Industry’s Role in Plastic Pollution, Subpoenas Exxon

By James Bruggers

An Indian boy walks through plastic waste on Juhu beach in Mumbai on June 2, 2018. Credit: Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images

For the First Time, Nations Band Together in a Move Toward Ending Plastics Pollution

By James Bruggers

Children play in piles of plastic waste collected for recycling in Makassar, Indonesia, in February 2022. Credit: Andri Saputra / AFP via Getty Images.

Biden Could Score a Climate Victory in a Single Word: Plastics

By James Bruggers

Workers carry and organize plastic bottles in the Dongxiaokou village on the outskirts of Beijing. Credit: Ryan Pyle/Corbis via Getty Images

World Talks on a Treaty to Control Plastic Pollution Are Set for Nairobi in February. How To Do So Is Still Up in the Air

By James Bruggers

Plastic and other debris floats underwater in the Red Sea off Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Credit: Andrey Nekrasov / Barcroft Media via Getty Images.

A Commonsense Proposal to Deal With Plastics Pollution: Stop Making So Much Plastic

By James Bruggers

Workers sort recycling material at the Waste Management Material Recovery Facility in Elkridge, Maryland, June 28, 2018. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Biden’s Infrastructure Bill Includes Money for Recycling, But the Debate Over Plastics Rages On

By James Bruggers

A collaboration between Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical America and South Korea’s Daelim Industrial has been planning to construct a $5.7 billion plastics manufacturing plant at this site, as it was in February 2019, in Belmont County, Ohio.

Developers Put a Plastics Plant in Ohio on Indefinite Hold, Citing the Covid-19 Pandemic

By James Bruggers

Towers of flame shoot skyward from the Mont Belvieu, Texas, petroleum plant explosion on Nov. 5, 1985. Credit: Bettman/Getty Images

For the Ohio River Valley, an Ethane Storage Facility in Texas Is Either a Model or a Cautionary Tale

By James Bruggers

New York Mayor Bill De Blasio hands out reusable bags on Feb. 28, 2020, ahead of a plastic bag ban, The ban was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic

Polluting Industries Cash-In on COVID, Harming Climate in the Process

By Dan Gearino, Georgina Gustin, James Bruggers, Kristoffer Tigue

A collaboration between Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical America and South Korea’s Daelim Industrial has been planning to construct a $5.7 billion plastics manufacturing plant at this site, as it was in February 2019, in Belmont County, Ohio.

Market Headwinds Buffet Appalachia’s Future as a Center for Petrochemicals

By James Bruggers

Construction at an ethene cracker plant on the Ohio River for making the building blocks of plastics. Credit: James Bruggers

Congressional Democrats Join the Debate Over Plastics’ Booming Future

By James Bruggers

People pick up plastic waste on a beach. Credit: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images

Booming Plastics Industry Faces Backlash as Data About Environmental Harm Grows

By James Bruggers

Construction at an ethene cracker plant on the Ohio River for making the building blocks of plastics. Credit: James Bruggers

House Votes to Block Trump from Using Clean Energy Funds to Back Fossil Fuels Project

By James Bruggers

What’s Worrying the Plastics Industry? Your Reaction to All That Waste, for One

By James Bruggers

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