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Thailand has joined Vietnam and Malaysia in cracking down on the world's trash. Thailand will stop accepting more than 400 types of electronic waste (e-waste), including circuit boards, old TVs and radios, within six months

Home goods producer SC Johnson announced a program to increase recycling of its plastic Ziploc storage bags. The company says it is disappointed with recovery rates at store drop-off locations, and is working on a process to allow the bags to be included in curbside recycling.

Coca-Cola European Partners will increase the amount of recycled PET in its bottles from 25% to 50% over the next three years as part of a new initiative to boost sustainability. The strategy also includes an effort to encourage recycling by promoting reforms to Great Britain's recycling programs.

Emerging evidence suggests oxo-degradable packaging could be more harmful than previously realized.

Environmentalists would prefer that everyone drank tap water -- but with consumers still clamoring for bottled beverages, water companies are trying to find ways to make their products more eco-friendly. Just Water uses bottles made from "green" plant-derived plastics, while other companies offer water in cardboard or easy-to-recycle aluminum packaging.

Microbeads are bad news, but fortunately most of us know that by now. There has been growing resistance to the miniscule pieces of plastic, added to personal care products for their ability to exfoliate skin, or sometimes just to look pretty in a see-through bottle. These microbeads, however, wreak environmental havoc as soon as they're washed down the drain. The outcome is described here by campaign group 'Beat the Microbead':

Plastic Soup Foundation (PSF), a Dutch nonprofit, and New York-based Parley for the Oceans announced Tuesday a partnership to tackle the issue of microfiber pollution and to create a global alliance of companies, governments, NGOs and scientists. Microfibers - tiny, often synthetic threads shed from laundry, industrial clothing manufacturing and fishing nets - have been found in alarming numbers in recent studies of microplastic pollution.

Turn off your air conditioner and stay cool in your shirt instead. That's the idea behind a new plastic-wrap-like material that Stanford University scientists say could be made into "cool" clothing, the use of which could slash emissions and energy consumption in buildings. If woven into fabric, the wearable cloth could keep humans cool on the hottest of days, eliminating the need to adjust the thermostat or crank up a fan. That could make a dent on a major source of U.S. greenhouse gases, the researchers say.

Just a day after a group of cross-party MPs called on the UK government to ban microbeads, Greenpeace released a report outlining the science on the impact of microplastics, including microbeads, on oceans and seafood. The non-profit is also urging the UK government to ban microbeads, "both due to the damage they cause to marine life and as a precautionary measure against the risk of human consumption."

Two weeks ago, this new shoe was three plastic water bottles. After ground-up bottles are turned into recycled filament fiber and delivered to a factory, a San Francisco-based startup uses a proprietary process to 3D-knit the fiber into a seamless, essentially waste-free shoe.

By providing thousands of cases of Emerald sustainable products to their clients, Corporate Coffee Systems greatly reduced their environmental footprint and successfully saved 293 trees; 34,441 pounds of virgin fiber; 9,738 pounds of FSC Certified Paper; 79, 977 gallons of water; 10,565 pounds of plastic materials; and diverted 48,848 pounds of landfill waste.

A successful campaign led by chef-turned-activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall drew attention to a big problem: In the UK, less than 6 million takeaway hot beverage cups are recycled each year, while 7 million are thrown out each day. The attention led to an increased discount for Starbucks customers who bring their own coffee cups, as well as a call from a British natural plastics manufacturer for an increased focus on bio-based and biodegradable materials. 

Walmart has agreed to pay $1 million to settle greenwashing claims that allege the nation's largest retailer sold plastic products that were misleadingly labeled "biodegradable" or "compostable" in violation of California law.

Americans are being exposed to significantly lower levels of some phthalates - chemicals often referred to as plasticizers - that were banned from children's products in 2008, but exposures to other forms of these chemicals are rising steeply, according to a study led by researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

Leahy-IFP's Space Saver bag-in-a-box beverage packaging uses 50 percent less energy during production, generates 22 percent less post-consumer solid waste and 7 percent less process greenhouse gases, compared to 64-oz. plastic bottles, the company says.

Coca-Cola, Ford, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever are among the 9 founding members of the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance, which seeks to encourage the use of sustainable materials to make bio-plastics.

Ford and H.J. Heinz are working to incorporate bioplastics made from dried tomato skins into various vehicle components. The plant-based materials are expected to replace traditional plastics derived from petroleum.

Coca-Cola and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment expect SeaWorld's switch to PlantBottle plastic in its refillable cups to remove 35 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, the companies say. The recyclable cup, using Coke's sustainable packaging technology, is now available in all SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks across the US.

America's Best Coffee Roasting Company has been pulling out all the stops to reduce its waste, sending coffee chaff to animal-feed makers and leftover sacks to gardening companies. Now it's switched to using bulk containers rather than plastic bags that can't easily be recycled. "In hindsight, it didn't really take that much effort. I hope other companies feel inspired and consider similar changes for their businesses," says Vice President Kelly Zeissner.