UBQ Materials, an Israeli firm, is commercializing technology to convert municipal solid waste into plastics which they say will dramatically change waste management systems throughout the world and make landfills a thing of the past.

Single-use plastics include items such as plastic bags, straws, water bottles, and many forms of food packaging and the European Commission’s Vice-President of the Executive Cabinet, Frans Timmerman, hinted that the EU may soon be banning them.

Recent findings by researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia and journalism organization Orb Media that found that 93% of bottled water showed signs of microplastic contamination, with an average of 10.4 and 314 particles per liter larger and smaller than 100 microns in size, respectively.

The province of Alberta has created a Bio-Resource Management Information System (BRIMS) which allows companies to search for wood waste, agricultural products, and other raw materials that they could repurpose for their business needs.

As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group, is calling for McDonalds’ to conduct assessments to examine the environmental impact the use of polystyrene in their cups and trays may have.