Global plastic use and its careless discard have been a slowly-building ecological problem for decades. But since China’s ban on all plastic waste imports went into effect earlier this year, shipping containers filled with the world’s plastic waste are piling up outside Asian seaports with nowhere to go except landfills or illegal dumping in the ocean. The world’s plastic addiction is a complex and increasingly problematic issue. And some governments—including in the United Kingdom, France, and India —have announced bans on single-use plastic goods. Starbucks announced that it will phase out all plastic straws from its stores by 2020 in favor of a recyclable strawless lid.

Source: Forbes September 17, 2018 14:00 UTC