December 2023

This year's celebration theme of "Opening Possibilities" salutes the nurses and clinicians who work tirelessly to promote health, prevent disease, and help patients with illnesses. Whether they're administering routine medical care or performing a life-saving procedure, each time a sterile pouch is opened, a life-enhancing possibility is created.  

Plastic packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables will be banned from January 1 in France as the country phases out single-use plastic. Fresh food producers say, however, that they aren't ready yet as little alternative has been found to replace plastic packaging.

A high-level committee set up by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are safe for pharmaceutical packaging.

In its report submitted to the NGT, the committee said, “there is no conclusive, reproducible evidence to suggest that use of PET or additive used with it such as antimony, for pharmaceutical packaging may leach substances beyond limits that pose threat to human health."

• Al-Hajri: “Promoting community accountability, minimizing carbon footprint, and firmly establishing recycling and the principles of the green circular economy to enhance the attractiveness and sustainability of Dubai.”
• Neutralizing the emission of 102 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere”

The main objective of this initiative is to reinforce community responsibility in the environmental sector, inspiring both individuals and institutions to make eco-friendly choices.

In September, 19 companies submitted 22 solution proposals to Moelven Wood's packaging challenge - to find a more sustainable packaging for their wooden interior panels.

Out of these, Ahlstrom, Billerud, Boxon, Lignin Industries, and T-Emballage were selected to work on the challenge during MoelvenHackathon. The innovation competition was arranged by the forestry bioeconomy cluster Paper Province and held in Karlstad, Sweden, on December 11 and 12.

Billerud was the winner

Tesco is scrapping plastic packaging from its own-brand pocket tissues, in a move that the UK’s largest supermarket says will eliminate almost 35 tonnes of new soft plastic waste each year.

It is the first big supermarket to make the change, which will result in the individual packaging and the wrapping around multipacks of Tesco tissues in its gentle white and balm ranges being replaced with Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper packs.

Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) microplastics are widely recognised as a significant contributor to marine plastic pollution, making up over 40% of plastic debris on Asian beaches.¹ Bans on EPS packaging have gained tremendous momentum recently, particularly in the European Union and the wider Caribbean region.^2,3 Legislation banning the use of EPS packaging has also been introduced in Fiji, the Philippines, and regions in the United States, just to name a few.^4,5,6