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Climate Change & Environment

Defossilize the chemical industry

As well as stopping burning of fossil fuels we must stop using them as feedstock in industry. Alternative sources of carbon are plentiful, but we have to be careful - converting cropland to biofuel production, for example, can drive up food prices, damage biodiversity and harm soil health. Europe should look to recycled plastic waste and captured CO2 for sources of carbon. Source: Nature Briefing

Defossilize our chemical world | Nature Editorial, 6 January

Many brands describe their plastic packaging as sustainable, but often only a fraction of the materials are actually recovered from waste and the rest is made from petroleum.

Supermarket shelves packed with ‘misleading’ claims about recycled plastic packaging | Stefano Valentino in the Guardian, 27 January


Originally posted in Second Nature 050 (Jan 2026). Category plastics, tags packaging.
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