World Environment Day: ‘Our world is swamped by plastic’
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Discarded plastic is one of the biggest environmental threats facing the planet, the UN said in a report on Tuesday to mark World Environment Day.
The UN report, Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability, said rules limiting the use of plastic bags have helped in places such as Morocco, Rwanda, and parts of China – sometimes significantly.
Elsewhere, however, things have not gone well and urgent action is needed. The report noted, by some estimates, as many as five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year.
“Our world is swamped by harmful plastic waste,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech. “Microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy.
Photo courtesy of Pavel Ahmed.
Source: Al Jazeera (link opens in a new window)
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