The United States is the largest producer of plastic waste
Every year 8 million tons of plastic waste is released into the environment. This is equivalent to a garbage truck dropping its load into the sea every minute
Quelle: Getty Images / Alison Wright
Twice as much as all EU countries than China: each American citizen is responsible for an average of 130 kilograms of plastic waste per year. To environmental organizations, “the most comprehensive and worst report on plastic pollution has not yet been released”.
D.According to a US study, the United States is the world’s largest polluter of plastic waste. In all, the United States produced about 42 million tons of plastic waste in 2016 – more than twice that of China and more than any other country in the European Union, the authors of the expert report submitted to the US government wrote. Wednesday. The authors urged the US government to take action.
According to the report, each U.S. citizen generates an average of 130 kilograms of plastic waste per year, followed by South Korea generating 88 kilograms of plastic waste per year. “The success of the miraculous invention of plastic in the 20th century led to a global flood of plastic waste,” wrote Margaret Spring, president of the Congress of Experts.
Global plastic production increased from 20 million tonnes in 1966 to 381 million tonnes in 2015 – 20 times in half a century.
According to the report, about 8 million tons of plastic waste is added to the environment every year. This is equivalent to a garbage truck dropping its load into the sea every minute. At current rates, the amount of plastic in the ocean will reach 53 million tons per year by 2030, which is about half the total weight of fish caught annually from the ocean. One reason for this is the recycling of plastics into plastic production.
The report proposes a number of measures to address the crisis. It is very important to produce less fresh plastic. Other proposed measures include the use of materials that are easily decomposed and recycled rapidly, reducing disposable plastics and improved waste management, for example with techniques for removing microplastics from wastewater.
“This is the most comprehensive and worst report ever made on plastic pollution,” said Judith Enk, president of Beyond Plastics. He said collecting garbage in the sea would not save the sea. Policymakers need to act urgently.
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