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20 June 2019

If Not Now Then When?


According to The World Counts, at least 10% of the 100 million tons of plastic we use every year end up in the oceans. This is equivalent to the weight of 700 billion plastic bottles. Put on top of each other these bottles would reach further than the sun. But they are not going to the sun. They are in our oceans and will stay there.|

What happens to the Plastic you throw away?

Plastic is one of the most widely used and cheapest materials in the world today. You can find it anywhere. If it’s not made from plastic, it’s wrapped in plastic. We use around 5 trillion plastic bags a year worldwide! The US alone throws away enough plastic bottles in a week to encircle the world 5 times. Only 1 to 3% of all plastics used are recycled. After we use them, we throw them away. 

In Singapore, NEA’s statistics show that in 2018, we generated 7.7 million tonnes of solid wastes. This includes 949,300 tonnes of plastic wastes disposed. Only 4% (40,700 tonnes) was recycled. The remaining quantity is mainly incinerated, thus an impact to the air we breathe.  

Nations aiming for ZERO waste is nothing but a big idea and dream. Just observe people around you, their attitudes and habits towards reducing wastes. Most people won’t care. Current and past programmes and campaigns here yield little change in people’s attitudes towards this topic. Unless and until legislations are put in place to stop single-use plastics, this catastrophic situation can only get worst!

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