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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