We are halfway through Plastic Free July, folks! This week we are featuring stories about plastics: plastic pollution, problems, and solutions. Keep challenging yourself to ditch single-use plastics and #ReachforReusables.

Virginia Beverage Container Recycling-Refund Program Report now available from Clean Virginia Waterways – July 2025 – LitterFreeVA.org

Clean Fairfax’s partner organization, Clean Virginia Waterways, recently released a detailed report on how Virginia could benefit from a beverage container recycling-refund program, also known as a bottle bill or container deposit law. This kind of program brings several benefits, including a reduction in litter, increased recycling rates, climate benefits, job creation, and less pressure on localities to handle solid waste. An overview and link to the report can be found at www.litterfreeva.org/bottle-bill.

Sentara updates CT scan process to cut out single-use syringes – July 10, 2025 – WHRO

Sentara completes over half a million CT scans each year across Virginia and North Carolina. CT scans are highly detailed x-rays that often require an injection of dye in order to highlight certain anatomy. Typically, these injections require a tubing piece, an individual bottle of saline, and sometimes a single bottle of contrast, adding up to several pieces of plastic per patient. However, the healthcare company has recently made the switch to injector machines that release the exact amount of contrast or saline solution needed. Now, the bulk bottles last for about five patients and reduce the waste of the previously used single-use bottles and the small amount of extra solution that each would produce. While this solution does not cut out plastic entirely, Sentara’s plastic waste has been reduced by about 78,000 pounds, and the hospitals’ yearly disposal costs have decreased by almost $900,000.

Which states are best, and worst, at tackling plastic pollution – July 15, 2025 – Ocean Conservancy

The Ocean Conservancy just released its United States of Plastic report, based on a 2024 study of how each state is handling plastic pollution. The US is the world’s largest source of plastic waste, yet it does not have a federal policy to combat the problem. Instead we have a patchwork of state-by-state and local policies and regulations. This report dives into which states are doing the best–and worst–at addressing plastic pollution. Spoiler: the average score is “needs improvement.” California leads the way, and several other states are moving toward stronger Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. Virginia is still in the “Needs Improvement” category. 

The oceans may contain much, much more plastic than previously thought – July 11, 2025 – Grist

This is the bad news article of the week. A study published in Nature last week estimated that the North Atlantic Ocean alone may contain 27 million metric tons of nanoplastic – the smallest measurable category of plastic particles. Nanoplastics are about 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair. This new pollution estimate is an order of magnitude greater than previous estimates, and if accurate, it means that nanoplastics also account for much more of the total mass of larger plastics (microplastics and macroplastics). The study’s author expects that similar levels of nanoplastic pollution will be found in the rest of the world’s oceans. Nanoplastics bioaccumulate in marine animals and concentrations increase up the food chain, causing inflammation and other health problems for wildlife and humans alike. 

Fenugreek and Okra Extracts Remove Up To 90% of Microplastics from Water Sources, Study Shows – May 6, 2025 – Sci News

As exemplified by the article above, more and more research is showing just how widely plastics have spread around the world, with micro- and nanoplastics found in every new place scientists can think of to look. The planet needs solutions not only to turn off plastic pollution at the source, but also to deal with plastic in the environment where it becomes ever more diffuse. A recent study by Tarleton State University researchers indicates that one promising avenue for removing tiny plastic particles from water may be to use plants such as okra and fenugreek. Both plants possess sticky natural polymers called polysaccharides that attract microplastics, clump together, and sink in water for easier separation and removal. The study sampled three types of microplastic polluted water: ocean water, surface water, and groundwater, and tested different combinations and concentrations of okra and fenugreek. Different combinations worked better in different situations, but in all cases, the plant-based polysaccharides performed better than the synthetic polyacrylamide that is currently used in wastewater treatment. This finding, if it can be replicated and scaled up, offers a potential organic and natural solution to improve water treatment and reduce microplastic pollution.