Plastic is made from oil and natural gas, which started out as fossilized plant and animal material. But buried deep underground for millions of years, those materials changed in important ways.

Oil is used throughout the US economy and not just as fuel. Petroleum goes into packaging, toys, clothing and especially the food we eat.

Over 170 countries have endorsed a resolution to negotiate a plastics treaty that’s much more precise than the Paris climate change agreement.

Public, government and corporate support for a world treaty to curb plastic waste is growing. Treaties addressing mercury pollution, long-range air pollution and ozone depletion offer some lessons.

The production and release of synthetic chemicals worldwide is destabilising the Earth system.

Using recycled plastic to wire planes could reduce their emissions while cutting down on waste from the 3-D printing industry.

Tossing something into your recycling bin that can’t be processed does more harm than good.

Each home testing kit contains around 10 grams of plastic.

An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year – equivalent to dumping in a garbage truckload of it every minute. A new report calls on the US to help stem the deluge.

We discovered that the 12 largest petrochemical companies announced 88 new projects between 2012 and 2019: new and expanded facilities that will likely operate for decades, ramping up carbon emissions.