Bags

A meteorologist in the U.S. Navy was pleasantly surprised to recover a wallet he had lost - 53 years ago in Antarctica.

Paul Grisham, 91, did not even remember losing the billfold when friendly strangers contacted him to return it via mail, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported this week.

A textile factory in Tokat, a province in the Black Sea region, previously manufacturing shirts has now started the mass production of body bags. 

The company, once churning out 70,000 shirts a month and exporting to 33 countries including Japan, Belgium, Germany and Spain, is now producing body bags for European countries. 

China will ban non-degradable plastic bags in big cities. The restaurant industry will also be banned from using single-use straws by the end of this year in an effort to reduce waste.

The country is one of the largest plastic consumers in the world, and the plan aims to reduce 30% non-degradable single-use packaging in large cities' food establishments within 5 years.

Since Turkey banned the handing out of most free plastic bags nearly a year ago, usage of the bags has fallen by over three-fourths, according to government data.

With usage dropping 77.27%, some 150,000 tons of plastic have been saved over the last 11 months, said Environment and Urbanization Ministry officials.

The Greek market appears ready to rise to the challenge set by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis regarding a forthcoming ban on all single-use plastics, business representatives told Xinhua.

Mitsotakis announced last Monday from New York, where he was for the UN Climate Action Summit, that single-use plastics will be banned across Greece as of 2021.

The use of plastic bags will be completely banned in Belgrade from January 1st. The decision will be formally taken at a meeting of the Belgrade municipality by the end of the month, Serbian Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić said, quoted by Tanjug, BNR reported.

More than 80 countries have already introduced similar bans, writes NOVA TV. 

New Zealand officially banned disposable plastic bags, introducing heavy fines for companies that continue to provide them.

Plastic pollution has become a growing global concern, with a million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals injured or killed each year.

The Mountain Rescue Service (PSS) at the Bulgarian Red Cross warns all mountain lovers to avoid camping and taking walks in the mountains, especially in the high places. Tourists must keep track of the weather forecast, to be well-equipped, to observe the pre-specified route and to carry charged mobile phones, reminded the Mountain Rescue Service.

Mass checks for separate garbage collection have begun in the capital.

The action is made by the Sofia Inspectorate and the fines are from BGN 50 to BGN 700.

Inspectors' inspections are surprising and started on May 27th. They are tracking  where and how people and companies throw away their trash.

The pistols were found in a plastic bag. The 69-year-old local came across them while he was collecting empty plastic bottles from the dumpster, reports said quoting unofficial sources.

The police said that they investigated the scene, and that the pistols have been sent to a forensic center in Zagreb.