California to ban plastic bags

Coming soon: California: SB 270 would make the State the first to enact a statewide ban on plastic bags. The bill passed the Assembly & Senate (on the Governor’s desk for action by September 30th). Note: each county in Hawaii bans plastic… …

Assessing progress in greening electronics

According to the latest Greenpeace report, brands are making progress in reducing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in products. Apple is leading the pack in completely eliminating these chemicals in personal… …

Health care wants furniture without unneeded flame retardants

Brominated and other flame retardants are losing the health care market. Four health care providers -- Advocate Health Care, Beaumont Health System, Hackensack University Medical Center, and University Hospitals -- announced they will stop buying… …

Target and Walmart cleaning up the supply chain?

The two US retail giants joined together with their supply chain last week in Chicago at the “Beauty and Personal Care Products Sustainability Summit.” At the top of their agenda: “impacts of chemicals (health &… …

Is edible packaging sustainable?

Some novel innovations aimed at reducing waste have been garnering attention this summer, including one pioneered by the company WikiFoods, Inc. The company describes its new material, WikiPearl, as “a protective electrostatic gel formed by… …

Washington State initiates action on PCBs as concern grows about contamination in pigments and dyes

While the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) banned new production and most uses of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), it allowed some historical uses to continue and set allowable limits for PCBs that occur as manufacturing by-products in other… …

Cleaning up the supply chain: Apple limits hazardous chemicals in manufacturing

Apple placed restrictions on benzene, beryllium, n-hexane, trichloroethylene (TCE), and other chlorinated solvents in manufacturing operations as part of its new Regulated Substances Specification.  Apple also says “All suppliers subject… …

GreenScreen® Newsletter - August 21, 2014

Welcome to the August 2014 edition of the GreenScreen newsletter! …

Cleaning hands but contaminating the Great Lakes

A new report from the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and Clean Production Action (CPA) uses GreenScreen® to evaluate two antibacterial chemicals and concludes that triclosan is a high hazard chemical whose use should be avoided. An… …

Antibacterial chemicals are polluting our waterways

Antibacterial chemicals are polluting our waterways Most people are unaware of how widespread triclosan and triclocarban chemicals are in their daily lives. Many products labelled as ‘antibacterial’, ‘fights odours’ or… …