The data concerning America and the plastic waste that produces. According to a report published yesterday Wednesday (1/12) and calling for the adoption of a national strategy to deal with the phenomenon, the US is by far the country that produces the most plastic waste in the world.
According to the report, the US produced about 42 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2016, a number double that of China and higher than all EU countries, according to a report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. But less than 5% of the world’s population lives in the United States.
On average, every American produces 130 kilograms of plastic waste per year. The second place is occupied by Britain with 98 kg per person.
“The success of the wonderful invention of plastic in the 20th century has also caused a global flood of plastic waste everywhere we look,” said Margaret Spring, chair of the panel of experts who drafted the report, which was requested by the US Congress.
According to the Athenian News Agency, she described the program as “environmental and social crisis”.
At least 8.8 million tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans every year, a quantity that corresponds to a garbage truck that throws garbage into the sea per minute, the report emphasizes.
SOS for plastics: How they can end up in the oceans
All plastics, including those dumped on land, can end up in the oceans, for example via rivers.
At the current pace The amount of plastics dumped in the oceans may reach 53 million tons per year by 2030.
Scientific research has shown that some marine species tend to be trapped in plastic waste or swallow microplastics.
Although plastics production has risen sharply since the 1980s, recycling has not kept pace.
The report recommends that a national strategy be adopted in the US by the end of 2022. It addresses a number of areas to address the problem, such as setting a limit on non-recyclable plastic production, increasing the use of plastic substitutes or safer disposal. of plastics.
At the same time, he proposes to collect better data on the production of plastic, identifying, for example, the main sources of plastic waste.
“This is the most comprehensive report on plastic waste contamination ever published”, commented Judith Enk, president of Beyond Plastics.
“We can no longer ignore the role of the United States in the plastic pollution crisis, one of the greatest environmental threats facing our oceans and planet today,” said Christie Levitt, director of the Oceana NGO’s campaign against plastics. .
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