Deirdre McKay

Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue: Study Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, whe...

Plastic pollution is a global environmental crisis, but what if we could design plastics that automatically break down after use? 🧪

My latest article for @mongabay.com looks at a recent study that used clever chemistry to do just that.

news.mongabay.com/2026/03/prom... #CircularEconomy #Plastics

Plastic Inc. by Beth Gardiner: 9780593717103 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books An extraordinary exposé of the industry flooding our world with plastic—and now ramping up to make more than ever “Deeply researched, sharply written, and totally compelling.”...

I'm thrilled to say Plastic Inc is out today, shifting the lens on plastic from where it ends up to where it comes from — the fossil fuel industry. "Deeply researched, sharply written & totally compelling," says @elizkolbert.bsky.social "Breath-taking & revelatory"—
@christopherleonard.bsky.social

"Out of all interventions modeled, restricting the primary production of plastic was the most effective way to reduce health impacts, and was substantially more effective than improving waste management and recycling alone."

Species Slowdown: Is Nature’s Ability to Self-Repair Stalling? When scientists recently analyzed hundreds of studies of ecosystems, they were surprised to see a marked slowing in the rate of species turnover. If new species don’t replace old ones, they say, ecosy...

Contrary to predictions, "Nature is slowing down, and its ability to regenerate is failing in the face of climate change." A new analysis finds the speed of species turnover in ecosystems worldwide has slowed by a third since the mid-1970s. 🌎🌿🧪
e360.yale.edu/features/eco...

Here is the true cost of #plastic #recycling. Wastewater from recycling plants fills the Mediterranean coast of Türkiye with #microplastics. Most of this microplastics comes from recycling facilities which imports plastic waste from the EU and the UK.

Fighting a losing battle to tackle growth in plastic production | Letters Letters: Readers respond to an interview with Beth Gardiner on how the oil industry is pumping billions more into plastics

"Beth Gardiner is right to argue that plastic is not merely a recycling failure (‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics, 19 February). It is something far more consequential: an oil growth strategy." #PlasticPollutes

‘Natural’ fibres in lakes: a 150-year sedimentary perspective on persistence Natural fibre textiles, such as cotton, are widely marketed as greener, biodegradable materials within the fashion and textiles industry. However, contemporary environmental assessments of whole (plas...

150 year old cotton and wool fibres found in UK lake sediment. Published yesterday in @cp-iscience.bsky.social: the paper I’ve been working on with colleagues from Keele and Loughborough Universities and beyond www.cell.com/iscience/ful... #microfibres

In 2018, in Fashion Revolution’s Loved Clothes Last fanzine, we shared a graphic about how long different textiles take to decompose. It reflected what many of us believed: that natural fibres biodegrade quickly and therefore disappear. But science evolves. And so must we. #sustainablefashion

“Natural” fibers in lakes: A 150-year sedimentary perspective on persistence Environment; Pollution; Environmental assessment

I am co-author on a new peer-reviewed paper Natural textile fibres preserved in a 150-year lake sediment record Stanton, T et al 2026 www.cell.com/iscience/ful... Researchers from @lborouniversity.bsky.social and @keeleuniversity.bsky.social recovered textile fibres dating back to 1876

Cotton was the dominant fibre type, accounting for 70% of all fibres identified and present throughout the entire core. Natural fibres such as cotton and wool were still structurally identifiable more than a century after deposition. #sustainablefashion

Textile pollution research has focused primarily on synthetics. Because we assumed plastic was the only problem in terms of microfibres, lab methods often dissolved everything natural to isolate and count synthetics. This study shows that natural fibres are long-lasting in aquatic environments.

This does not mean natural fibres are equivalent to synthetics. It does not mean they do not biodegrade.
It does mean the story is more complex than those charts doing the rounds on social media that suggest natural textiles simply vanish in a short time. #sustainablefashion

Sustainability strategies that promote natural fibres as straightforward substitutes for plastics risk overlooking environmental persistence and the potential for fibres to carry or release associated chemicals. If we care about our material future, we need better science, not better slogans.

Carry with Antonia Law holding a perspex tube containing sediment from Rudyard Lake, Staffordshire, UK

Solutions? This research became the jumping-off point for writing The Nature of Fashion (@chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social, 2025) – an exploration not of easy answers, but of better questions. #naturewriting

‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This thread is gold.

📣 The new Chair leading #PlasticsTreaty talks has been elected: Julio Cordano of Chile.

@enb.iisd.org’s Noémie Laurens breaks down the three main issues that the new Chair will have to face this year at INC 5.4. 👇

A stone statue surrounded by objects made of plastic stands outside as part of an art installation. Text overlaid reads, "Where the Global Plastics Treaty Talks Stand"

After two failed attempts to finalize the global #PlasticsTreaty, effective leadership is widely seen as critical for restoring momentum.

On Feb 7, governments will meet to select a new chair.

Learn where talks stand and why this meeting matters: https://bit.ly/45QnL5v

UN chemicals panel talks end with little progress as procedural skirmishes eclipse science - Geneva Solutions Procedural disputes and geopolitical rivalries overshadowed the launch of a body in Geneva meant to assess the science on chemical pollution. Delegates now brace for similar tensions at plastics talks...

‘UN chemicals panel talks end with little progress as procedural skirmishes eclipse science’
Read the article by Michelle Langrand in Geneva Solutions: genevasolutions.news/climate-envi...

The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution ended in paralysis.

Obstruction and geopolitics blocked agreement on basic rules needed for the Panel to function.

Read our full statement 👇
www.ciel.org/news/isp-cwp...

‘Natural’ fibres in lakes: a 150-year sedimentary perspective on persistence Natural fibre textiles, such as cotton, are widely marketed as greener, biodegradable materials within the fashion and textiles industry. However, contemporary environmental assessments of whole (plas...

Are 'natural' fibres always 'better'? Some do seem to hang around... Our new paper on fibre persistence: ‘Natural’ fibres in lakes: a 150-year sedimentary perspective on persistence: iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

📢 New publication:

How should we communicate about scientific uncertainty - especially around environmental & health risks like microplastics? 🗣️💬

We ran an online experiment with 1,126 participants in Austria and found:

Quote from Abi Awomosu's substack, describing a response to seeing GenAI images 'as if the smell of burnt plastic was a feeling'

'The feeling of the smell of burnt plastic'.... absolutely capture the synasthesia of GenAI overwhelm

Interesting photo to illustrate that article, as the plastic produced for all those water bottles is part of what is keeping the fossil fuel industry alive.

Finding ways to provide safe drinking water that doesn’t use single-use PET bottles should be a bigger priority.

One-Third of Pacific Island Fish Contaminated With Microplastics - Inside Climate News From the coral-covered coastlines of Tonga to the remote sandy atolls of Tuvalu, microscopic synthetic fibers are infiltrating the region’s species and food systems. One-third of fish living in Pacifi...

One-Third of Pacific Island Fish Contaminated With Microplastics.
Ahead of February’s Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, new data reveals the contamination rate of Fijian fish far exceeds worldwide averages.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2801202...

Nano‐plastics disrupt systemic metabolism by remodeling the bile acid–microbiota axis and driving hepatic–intestinal dysfunction The pervasiveness of microplastic pollution poses a growing health risk, yet its long-term metabolic consequences remain poorly defined. Here, we exposed mice to polyethylene terephthalate nanopartic...

🧪 Nanoplastic exposure disrupts bile acid metabolism and gut microbiota, driving systemic metabolic collapse.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Ottawa wins Federal Court appeal allowing single-use plastics ban to stand The federal government scored a win at the Federal Court of Appeal on Friday, which upheld its 2021 decision to list “plastic manufactured items” as toxic, and ultimately led to a ban on several types...

Ottawa wins Federal Court appeal allowing single-use plastics ban to stand

www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/art...

#singleuseplastics

Plastic Pollution Promotes Hazardous Water Conditions, New Study Finds A new UC San Diego study reveals that fossil fuel-based plastic pollution may be promoting toxic water conditions by removing animals that keep water at safe levels. Biologically based plastics had a ...

🔬 NEW STUDY "In the new study, which compared different types of plastics across 30 experimental pond ecosystems, researchers found that fossil fuel plastics can lead to 'top down' effects by killing off the animals that eat algae." #PlasticPollutes #BreakFreeFromPlastic

Global health impacts of plastics systems could double by 2040 | LSHTM The adverse health impacts associated with emissions across the full life cycle of plastics could double by 2040 unless immediate action is taken, new research suggests.The research identified health

Global health impacts of plastics systems could double by 2040 www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...

#plasticpollution
#plasticslifecycle
#humanhealth
#globalwarming
#airpollution
#toxicchemicals

Europe’s supermarket shelves packed with ‘misleading’ claims about recycled plastic packaging Manufacturers use method that labels plastic as ‘circular’ and climate-friendly, despite being mostly fossil-based

have a few papers in review that examine this issue, and the reality is that ‘circular’ claims often camouflage a reliance on chemical recycling technologies that are toxic and unproven

these claims should be understood as a strategy by corporate interests to distract and delay meaningful action