Can the circular economy help the Caribbean win its war against waste? – Mongabay

On the way to the Playa Quehueche in Livingston, on the Caribbean coast of Guatemala (by Ken MacElwee CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

For decades, a graveyard of corroding barrels has littered the seafloor just off the coast of Los Angeles. It was out of sight, out of mind — a not-so-secret secret that haunted the marine environment until a team of researchers came across them with an advanced underwater camera…Startling amounts of DDT near the barrels pointed to a little-known history of toxic pollution…but federal regulators recently determined that the manufacturer had not bothered with barrels. (Its acid waste was poured straight into the ocean instead.)…

Using ‘recycled plastic’ in construction materials may not be a great idea after all – Grist Magazine

Asphalt (by katsuuu 44 CC BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Last month, the American Chemistry Council, a petrochemical industry trade group, sent out a newsletter highlighting a major new report on what it presented as a promising solution to the plastic pollution crisis: using “recycled” plastic in construction materials. At first blush, it might seem like a pretty good idea — shred discarded plastic into tiny pieces and you can reprocess it into everything from roads and bridges to railroad ties…