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UK specialty paper and advanced materials manufacturer James Cropper PLC has unveiled a sustainable alternative to plastic that the company says can carry the weight of an adult and be composted within 100 days. Developed in partnership with Södra, a Swedish forestry cooperative, DuraPulp is a bio-composite material that can be suitable for a variety of applications.

President Obama signed a bill on Monday that will phase out the manufacturing of face wash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017, and the sale of such beauty products by July 1, 2018.

A Global Commitment to eradicate plastic waste and pollution at the source has been signed by 250 organisations including many of the world's largest packaging producers, brands, retailers and recyclers, as well as governments and NGOs.

Pokonobe Associates is recycling commercial plastic fishing nets to make the lightweight, stackable blocks for a new version of its Jenga game. The company's Ocean Jenga also will educate consumers about ending ocean pollution, about 10% of which is caused by discarded or lost fishing nets.

The final straw: Ben & Jerry's announces plan to eliminate single-use plastic in Scoop Shops worldwide

This links to several articles in the May issue on plastic waste in the environment.

Calif. considers bill that would boost recycled content in plastic containers

Communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel development are taking a stand against dangerous fossil fuel projects. Take a look at the big fight in the small town of Kalama, Washington. The Chinese government is planning to build the world's largest methanol refinery to convert fracked natural gas to liquid methanol for export to China to make plastics. From a greenhouse gas perspective, this fight is a big deal. The methanol refinery alone would use more natural gas than all industry in Washington combined. Flip it around: If we win this one battle and stop the methanol refinery, we stop the equivalent of doubling industrial natural gas usage in Washington State. While the gas industry tries to spin natural gas as clean, new science shows just the opposite. The bulk of natural gas is methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane leakage from gas wells and pipelines led scientists to conclude that fracked gas can be as bad coal for our climate. And it gets worse. Gas production in North America relies heavily on fracking, a process famous for polluting air and water, endangering the health of nearby residents.

The world's two largest bottled water companies, Danone and Nestlé Waters, have teamed up with a California startup to develop and launch at commercial scale a PET plastic bottle made from 100 percent biobased material.

Coca-Coca, Dow Chemical and a slew of other players are teaming up with the nonprofit giant to attack a problem that has been explored very little up to now. 

Dell has become the second high-profile company to announce a deal with AirCarbon, an innovative plastic material from Newlight Technologies created by pulling carbon out of the air.

Nearly every piece of plastic still exists on Earth, regardless of whether it's been recycled, broken down into microscopic bits or discarded in the ocean. And the world keeps producing more of the material -- creating 288 million metric tons of it in 2012. About 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of it end up in the oceans in 2010, according to a new estimate published in the journal Science.

Products that don't use recycled plastic will cost 10 percent more in the future, according to a government plan.