In 2018, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joined forces with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to tackle what environmental experts call one of the world’s most dangerous addictions: single-use plastics.

Washington, D.C., 3 March 2021–The Mississippi River Plastic Pollution Initiative was launched today at the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative’s ninth annual Capitol Meeting, where mayors representing over 100 communities along the river corridor are convenin

Every September, on International Coastal Cleanup Day in Jamaica, plastic is the most collected material. In 2019, the top 10 items collected were all single-use plastic and polystyrene (foam) waste, anything from plastic bottles to food wrappers.

• Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment Programme publish second progress report on the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment
• Report shows that while progress has been made between 2018 and 2019, much more must be done, and at greater speed, to achieve the 2025 targets and tackle plastic pollution
• Substantial differences in progress between signatories – some have taken big steps forward, however others have shown

Rome/Nairobi/New York , 29 September 2020 – At the global event marking today the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and their partners urged everyone to do

Across Myanmar, artisanal miners hunt for gold flecks in rivers and pit mines. The work is physically taxing and the income meagre. For many, the sprinkling of particles they find will only offer a few extra dollars of daily income.

• The Flipflopi, the world’s first sailing boat (dhow) made entirely from plastic waste collected from towns and beaches in Kenya, is headed to Lake Victoria to raise awareness of the pollution plaguing the region’s most critical freshwater ecosystem
• Along with the initiative is a petition calling on all East African Community Member States to reach a regional consensus on banning non-essential single-use plastics
• The boat

Every year, the world generates more than two billion tonnes of trash.  Even against the backdrop of a global pandemic, there is much being bought and sold, things are used and discarded.

• Preventing the spread of COVID-19 in a recovering tourism sector does not mean a return to single-use plastic products.
• Global Tourism Plastics Initiative releases key recommendations for the tourism sector to continue fighting plastic pollution, while maintaining public health and hygiene in the face of the pandemic.
• Tourism companies such as Accor, Club Med, Iberostar Group and major tourism business associations announ

Interview with Keith Alverson, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Environmental Technology Centre in Osaka, Japan.