Happy Wednesday, muggles. The fight for equal pay is still very much alive and well around the world. The BBC has given pay raises to more than 700 female employees due to its equal pay scandal. And while the BBC might be hoping to clear its name from the headlines, here are a few other stories that deserve some attention.

Big Oil’s gain in the plastic recycling game

Fri Sep 11

Turns out plastic recycling is all an illusion made up by oil and gas executives. The motive was to get consumers to buy more single-use plastic (the oil industry makes more than $400 billion a year making plastic) and turn their attention away from greenhouse gas emissions and alternative energy.

Are you confused? 

Confusion was a part of their strategy. They made all plastic look recyclable with symbols and recycling programs and sold people on their individual carbon footprints. But most plastics are a fossil fuel-based product created as a byproduct of the fracking process and can’t even be recycled. 

So, should we not be recycling?

Not quite. Paper, glass, metal, and some plastic recycling is still helpful. 

What’s happening now?

There’s a push from the plastic industry itself to “fix recycling.” Big Plastic is backing a $1 billion bill known as the RECOVER Act. Some environmentalists and advocates are calling out the irony, saying this is just the plastic industry trying to get the government to clean up their plastic mess.

Previously on Below the Fold, we told you about how microplastics are being found everywhere from our water and the air we breathe.

SOURCES: NPR, The Grist, Congress

Lawmakers approve diversity quotas for corporations in California

Mon Aug 31

If signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, California would be the first state to require corporate boards to include underrepresented people. Underrepresented people include those who are Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native or as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender

What would be the new rules?

• Public companies headquartered in California would have to have at least one board member from an underrepresented community by 2021 and at least three by the end of 2022 (depending on the size of the board)
• Companies that don’t comply would face fines of $100,000 for its first violation and $300,000 after that

This builds off a 2018 law that required California companies to have at least one female board member by the end of 2019 and three by the end of 2021.

SOURCES: Forbes, NBC LA