NewsBits

NewsBits

Sioux Lookout, Ontario has trashed its four-month-old ban on single-use plastic bags after residents of the town of 5,000 people in the northwest part of the Canadian province expressed overwhelming antipathy towards the restrictions, reports The Chronicle Journal [1].

Iowa State University has been awarded [2] a $1.9 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to develop biodegradable plastic containers for agricultural products.

7-Eleven licensee Handee Marts, Inc. has deemed the PepsiCo. Dream Machine recycling kiosk initiative a success [3] in all of its stores. The company's 63 7-Eleven stores in Pennsylvania have collected a total 121,400 beverage containers since starting the program.

California Governor Jerry Brown has appointed Caroll Mortensen to serve as the director of the Department of Resource Recovery and Recycling (CalRecycle). For the last decade, Mortensen served as one of the California Legislature's Senior Environmental Policy Consultants. Her appointment was applauded by environmental group Californians Against Waste.

The Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council has conducted a survey regarding a proposed bag ban in Austin, Texas, with somewhat predictable results. According to the survey findings, 72 percent of Austinites would support an alternative to the proposed plastic bag ban among other pro-bag attitudes.

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