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The U.S. Ratifies A Climate Treaty | Earth Wise

October 14, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In a rare display of bipartisanship, the U.S. Senate voted 69-27 in favor of ratifying a key international climate agreement aimed at curbing global warming. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which has been ratified by 137 other countries so far, ends the use of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons that are 1,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere. This is the first international climate treaty that the U.S. has joined in 30 years.

The Kigali Agreement was established in Kigali, Rwanda in 2016 to phase out HFCs, which have been the replacements for CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in air conditioners and refrigerators. CFCs were found to be depleting the ozone layers that protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer, but they have been a significant contributor to global warming.

The U.S. ratification of the treaty is largely symbolic. The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, passed by Congress in 2020, gave the EPA authority to regulate HFCs and the agency has already been doing so. However, the Senate action shows that the U.S. is back on the international climate bandwagon.

Failure to ratify the Kigali Amendment would have closed segments of the chemical and manufacturing industries to U.S. producers after 2023 because the Montreal Protocol prohibits trade with countries not party to it or its amendments.

Environmental advocates are hopeful that the U.S. can move forward on other climate actions. A next step would be to focus on methane, the second leading driver of climate change after carbon dioxide.

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Senate Votes to Ratify the Kigali Amendment, Joining 137 Nations in an Effort to Curb Global Warming

Photo, posted June 13, 2017, courtesy of UNIDO via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Takeout Food And Ocean Litter | Earth Wise

August 5, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Covid-19 pandemic saw most of us making use of take-out or delivery services as our only access to restaurant food. It was a valuable link to normal life. But unfortunately, the packaging of takeout food is a major contributor to the global plastic waste problem that isn’t going to disappear just because people are returning to eating in restaurants.

A new analysis of more than 12 million items by UK researchers published in the journal Nature Sustainability has found that the majority of ocean litter collected around the world is in the form of takeout food items: bags, wrappers, containers, straws and cutlery, aluminum cans, and plastic and glass bottles. Eighty percent of all the items surveyed were made of plastic.

Wrappers and packaging tended to concentrate along coasts, gathering on the shore and the sea floor. Takeout trash was rarer in the open ocean. In those areas, fishing debris accounted for half of the litter.

The authors of the study argue that efforts to curb plastic waste should prioritize takeout food and beverage containers. They recommend that avoidable takeout items, like single-use plastic bags, should be replaced with non-plastic and biodegradable materials. The authors also recommended making plastic producers responsible for the collection and disposal of plastic products.

As of July 1, the European Union has banned the 10 most common plastic and Stryofoam products found on European beaches. The EU is also establishing an active European market for recycled plastics based on the principles of extended producer responsibility.

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Takeout Food and Drink Containers Account for Bulk of Ocean Litter

Photo, posted September 14, 2009, courtesy of Susan White/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Food Waste Into Wearables | Earth Wise

November 20, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A new startup company spun out of the University of Toronto wants to make clothing from food waste. If they are successful, you may someday buy a shirt or a pair of gym shorts made from banana peels, rotten tomatoes, coffee grounds, or moldy bread.

A problem faced by the clothing industry is that most textiles are blended with synthetic and non-renewable fiber polyester, which makes them unrecyclable. An alternative that has come on the scene in recent years is polylactic acid (or PLA), which is a decomposable bioplastic that is currently used for food packaging, medical implants, and 3D printing. It is likely that a sustainable future for the fashion industry will depend on the ability to make use of biodegradable and carbon-neutral materials.

PLA is typically made from cornstalk, but the startup – called ALT TEX – does not want to rely on a crop already used for feedstock, human consumption, and alternative fuel. Furthermore, there is no need to plant more corn when there is an abundant supply of unused post-industrial food waste from growers, producers, and retailers that contains the same biological building blocks for producing PLA.

ALT TEX has been conducting experiments using discarded apples to create a PLA-based fabric that is strong, durable, decomposable, and cost effective. They are working with farmers and food suppliers to access their waste. If their efforts are successful, it would be possible to divert significant amounts of organic waste that currently emits the powerful greenhouse gas methane and instead enable the fashion industry to be more sustainable.

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Earth-friendly fashion: U of T startup turns food waste into wearables

Photo, posted August 30, 2019, courtesy of Ruth Hartnup via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

An Incentive For Carbon Capture | Earth Wise

April 1, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Convincing industries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions has not been easy. Many approaches have been debated, including carbon taxes, carbon tax-and-trade schemes, and passing a giant Green New Deal. Most economists agree that putting a price on carbon is likely to be the most effective approach.

But there is already in place an adjustment to the US tax code that is more of a carrot than a stick. It is a tax credit that is designed to make capturing CO2 a financial winner for a number of high-emitting industries. The credit, called 45Q, was enacted in February 2018.

The 45Q credit earns industrial manufacturers $50 per metric ton of CO2 stored permanently or $35 per ton if the CO2 is put to use. An earlier credit for capturing carbon dioxide was limited to only $20 per metric ton and was capped at 75 million tons. Some large fossil fuel companies did make use of the earlier credit.

The new version does not have a cap, but to qualify, companies need to start constructing carbon-capture facilities within 7 years and have 12 years to claim their money.

Companies with emission-intensive operations are busy figuring out how to take advantage of the credit. These include cement makers, steel and power plants, corn ethanol producers, and ammonia plants.

Because the credit mandates that companies start constructing their carbon-capture facilities within seven years, most companies will tend to rely on mature technologies. But the tax credit should also drive demand for next-generation carbon-capture technologies, of which there are many under development. Saving lots of money on taxes is likely to lure US companies to capture carbon dioxide.

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