“#NonHazPlasticDiet” campaign

CCB • April 30, 2021

Plastics and the Hidden Threat to your Health

CCB has joined the campaign “NonHaz Plastic Diet” which starts today and will be running for 6 weeks under the project NonHazCity2.

Plastics and the additives they contain are everywhere in our daily lives. They are in our homes, our workplaces, our clothes and our bodies. Plastics are everywhere because they are convenient and they are cheap. Chemicals are added during manufacturing to give desirable properties such as flexibility, durability and flame resistance. However, this convenience comes at a cost. Chemical additives in plastic items and articles can leach out over time harming you, those around you and the environment.

Some of the substances added to plastic to make it useful are chemically similar to the hormones in our bodies that control hunger, weight gain and most other biological processes. Alarmingly, these chemicals, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals or EDCs, are also similar to the hormones which control development of unborn and young children. We get exposed to EDCs through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the things we touch. In today’s world, there is no way we can completely avoid EDCs but through some smart life choices, we can reduce our exposure.

Almost all plastic contains one or more additives, but not all additives have EDC properties. Regulators work with industry to phase out additives with known EDC properties but replacements are not necessarily entirely safe. Furthermore, we as consumers do not have easy access to information about which additives are in which items and articles and scientists have not yet studied the EDC properties of all potential additives.

Despite this lack of knowledge, there are a number of ways we can reduce our exposure to the potentially harmful substances in plastics.
In the campaign, the focus will be on five areas:

These areas are potentially significant sources of EDC exposure and there we can take concrete actions to reduce our exposure, for our health and for the environment.

The last topic will be bioplastic. Today, almost all plastic is produced by refining fossil fuels. In some cases, alternatives exist, which are based on plant materials such as bioplastics, or cotton instead of synthetic cloth. These alternatives may be more climate friendly than products made from fossil fuels, but many of them have the same problems as traditional plastics. They can contain EDC additives and may be difficult to recycle.

Change is not always easy but it is possible. The aim of this campaign is to give new ideas and knowledge not only to protect our health, but the health of those around us and the environment.

Don't reopen the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Implement it.

By CCB • June 15, 2026
The European Commission's evaluation confirms what environmental NGOs across Europe have long argued: the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)'s challenge is not its design, but its implementation.

Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027

By CCB • June 10, 2026
The poor status and decline of many Baltic Sea fish populations have been thoroughly documented over several decades, indicating that the entire ecosystem is in great distress. So far, policy interventions have not reversed, or even halted, the negative trend concerning many of these populations. The European Commission itself recently recognised in its Common Fishery Policy (CFP) evaluation report that progress on stock rebuilding is lacking and the number of stocks “ threatened by collapse due to impaired recruitment has increased during the reporting period ”. Fish populations that once formed the cornerstone of the Baltic Sea fishery, such as the eastern and western Baltic cod and the western Baltic herring, are now doing so poorly that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is advising zero catch for these stocks. Yet, even with the targeted fishery being closed for some years now, none of these three stocks are showing sufficient signs of recovery. The condition (such as size and weight-at-age) of many flatfish populations, such as plaice, also raises alarm bells. The salmon spawning migration has fallen short of the target level in the past three years5. As a result, even the healthiest salmon stocks are now unlikely to produce enough smolts corresponding to sustainable levels in the coming years. To address the crisis facing Baltic populations and the broader ecosystem, political will and ambition to improve fisheries management, alongside full implementation of the CFP provisions, are needed. The recent INI report on the Baltic Sea Multi-Annual Plan shows that the European Parliament recognises the importance of ecosystem-based fisheries management as well as the need for consideration of environmental legislation when making decisions on fishing opportunities.6 Fisheries managers must now act swiftly and decisively on the commitment the Commission and Baltic Sea Member States made at last year’s October Agrifish Council to rebuild Baltic Sea stocks. This document presents the joint NGO recommendations regarding Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027, prioritising long-term ecosystem health and sustainable fisheries management over short-term economic interests. The recommendations are based on the ICES advice, the objectives and requirements of the CFP8 and the Baltic Multiannual Plan (MAP), specifically to apply the precautionary approach and implement an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management, and the objective of achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Last year’s overarching joint Briefing Series on TAC-setting, co-signed by almost 30 organisations across the EU and the UK, including environmental NGOs, recreational fishers, and fishing rights owners, remains valid and provides further context, background and detailed explanations on the cross-cutting issues raised in this document. Read the Joint NGO recommendations on Baltic Sea fishing opportunities for 2027 here .