On 5 June 2023, the global theme of World Environment Day is "Plastic Fast", a call for global solutions to combat plastic pollution that will showcase how countries, businesses and individuals are learning to use plastic more sustainably. This follows a conference on an international instrument to combat plastic pollution just held in Paris. The conference aims to reach an international legally binding agreement in 2024 covering the entire life cycle of plastic products, including their production, design, recycling and disposal, and promote the global fight against plastic pollution.
On September 23, 2019, local time, the coast of Panama City was filled with plastic waste.
Dangerous "loops"
The various stages of the "plastic cycle" are harmful to people's living environment, life, health, food and water. The production of plastics relies almost entirely on fossil fuels, releasing harmful substances in the process, and plastics themselves contain toxic chemicals that pose a risk to humans and nature. In addition, 85% of single-use plastics end up in landfills or dumped into the environment. At the same time, incineration, recycling and other "false and misleading solutions" only exacerbate the threat, pointing out that plastics, microplastics and the harmful substances they contain appear in the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
On June 3, 2023, local time, in the Ampara region of eastern Sri Lanka, a wild elephant ate garbage containing plastic waste in a garbage dump.
June 4, 2023, local time, Dimapur, Nagaland, India, waste pickers look for reusable items at a garbage dump.
On May 21, 2023, local time, people were burning garbage in the suburbs of Kolkata, India.
On June 5, 2023, local time, Dhaka, Bangladesh, a man washed plastic sheeting in the Briganga River.
The impact on "marginalized areas" is severe
The impact of plastic pollution on climate change is also a concern, which is often overlooked. Marginalized areas are the most vulnerable to exposure to plastic pollution and waste. For example, plastic particles found in the oceans limit the ability of marine ecosystems to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. According to data released by the United Nations, more than 400 million tons of plastic are produced globally every year, and about tens of millions of tons of plastic waste flow into the ocean every year.
December 8, 2022, local time, Vaasa, Finland, plastic debris in frozen water.
May 3, 2023, local time, Paris, France, plastic bags float in sea ice near the Gulf of Botnia.
On June 5, 2023, local time, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, a man looks at plastic waste floating next to a fishing boat in the harbor.
On April 20, 2023, local time, Manila, Philippines, plastic waste can be seen everywhere on the San Juan River.
On May 29, 2023, local time, Mumbai, India, plastic waste floated on the canal.
On January 19, 2021, local time, Koh Samui, Thailand, a wave of plastic garbage and other garbage was swirled.
On January 5, 2021, local time, in the small town of Visegrad, Bosnia-Herzegovina, aerial photograph of the Drina River blocked by plastic bottles and other garbage.
Treaty negotiations are ongoing
The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that by 2040, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could reach about 23 million to 37 million tons per year. Experts are working on an internationally binding treaty to address plastic pollution, including pollution in the marine environment. Plastic pollution knows no borders and can only be tackled through swift and decisive collective action. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said that "we cannot solve this dilemma through waste recycling" and that "success can only be achieved if waste is eliminated, waste is reduced, waste is promoted throughout the life cycle management approach, transparency and a just transition can be achieved." ”
On May 30, 2023, local time, workers at a recycling plant in Nakuru, Kenya, sorted out bales of plastic.
On June 4, 2023, local time, Malaga, Spain, volunteers collected garbage and plastic at the beach of San Andrés.
On April 20, 2023, local time, Manila, Philippines, volunteers collected plastic waste in the San Juan River.
On June 1, 2023, local time, workers in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, workers are sorting out plastic waste.
March 4, 2023, local time, Bogor, Indonesia, volunteers clean up foam plastic in the Chilion River.
On March 20, 2023, local time, in Bali, Indonesia, workers separated seagrass from plastic waste on a marine cleaning boat.
New ways to degrade plastics
On April 23, 2023, Japanese researchers recently reported that they have improved the functionality of plant-based plastics through a new method of polymer material design, and at the same time, the used waste plastics can be degraded into fertilizer and reused. The new method of polymer material design in this study helps to solve the problem of waste plastics and food.
On May 26, 2010, staff at the Minato-ku Resource and Waste Treatment Center in Tokyo, Japan, delivered preliminarily treated plastic bottles.
This year, Israel's Browder School of Engineering issued a statement saying that the slime extracted by their research team from some jellyfish can "trap" tiny particles in water and accelerate their precipitation, thereby removing pollutants such as microplastics more efficiently. The researchers plan to put the latest findings into practical applications, such as the development of biofilters for wastewater treatment, to reduce the amount of nanoscale microplastics entering the soil and ocean. Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in diameter that accumulate in the ocean and pollute ecosystems. U.S. researchers have combined years of observational data to find that the amount of microplastic pollutants in the global ocean has grown rapidly since 2005, and there may currently be more than 2.3 million tons of microplastics floating in surface seawater.
Jellyfish in Garlapsey Bay, Malta, May 11, 2022.
In addition, the "Bamboo instead of Plastic" initiative jointly launched by the Chinese government and INBAR will help the global control of plastic pollution and make positive contributions to promoting sustainable development. In the opinion of experts, compared with plastic products, bamboo has good toughness, strong plasticity, short growth cycle, convenient planting, and has the natural advantage of replacing plastic. As a green, low-carbon, fast-growing, renewable and degradable biomass material, bamboo can directly replace some non-biodegradable plastic products in packaging, building materials and other fields. Replacing plastic with bamboo can increase the proportion of green bamboo products and reduce plastic pollution.
Workers dry semi-finished products of bamboo on July 16, 2021.
Plastic pollution is one of the most important environmental concerns in the world today. UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said plastics are being produced, used and disposed of in ways that are polluting ecosystems, endangering human health and destabilizing the climate.
Source: Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News Client, China News Network, United Nations, Visual China, The Paper