The once-clean beach of Da Loc in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa is suffocating under the weight of plastic waste. 8m tonnes Plastic waste dumped into ocean every year, says UN report. Worst polluters are Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam dump more plastic into oceans than rest of the world combined. Take a look at what experts have to say about the menace of platic use.
It's time to end the addiction to throwaway plastics: This is as pressing a problem as climate change. By CK Mishra and Erik Solheim
Why plastic is so bad
Plastic is of course a miracle material, and the growth of our use of plastics to the current proportions reflects its incredible utility. It’s invaluable in preserving food in our kitchens, the stuff of medical breakthroughs and a key part of the latest renewable energy technology. If plastics use were confined to these positive uses alone, there would be no problem. Unfortunately, we have a planetary addiction to the very worst types of plastic: the kind that is used for a few minutes or seconds and then discarded.
It's hurting environment
The numbers alone are alarming: an estimated 12 million tonnes of it enter our oceans every year, harming plants, animals, coastal communities and entering our food chain. The impact can be seen in every corner of the world. Whales and turtles – the great barometers of ocean and planetary health – are washing up on shores, having choked on plastic bags. Adventurers have spotted lumps of polystyrene packaging floating among the icebergs in the furthest reaches of the Arctic. Even tests on bottled water from all corners of the globe have found microscopic plastic particles in every sample. Our seas, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to almost every beach on earth, are slowly being transformed into a plastic soup.
The India picture
India has not been spared. In Mumbai, the cost of plastic pollution can be clearly seen. At Versova beach, the horrific sight of the sand covered in plastic prompted lawyer Afroz Shah to start organising weekly beach clean-ups. Since October 2015 and backed by an increasing army of volunteers from every walk of life, thousands of tonnes of litter has been collected. Volunteer actions like this are a cause for celebration. But the grim reality is that the plastic keeps washing up. So it’s now time for the real message to be understood: change must happen upstream, and we have to stop plastic entering the oceans in the first place. Because much like climate change, once the damage has been done, it’s incredibly hard to reverse.
Plastic scene around the world
Even if each and every one of us do what we can to reduce our own plastic footprint – and of course we must – the current tide of single-use plastic is overwhelming. Global plastic production, roughly one-third of which is non-recyclable, is rising fast. This year, it is estimated that 360 million tonnes will be produced. By 2025, this will grow to nearly 500 million and by 2030 we could be looking at a staggering 619 million tonnes of plastic being produced globally. Looking at these projections, it’s abundantly clear that we need strong intervention at the highest level. Many countries have already taken important steps in this direction. Panama recently banned plastic bags. Kenya did the same last year, while Thailand is doing its best to make sure cigarette butts do not end up on its beaches with smoking bans.
India's work on plastic on WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
India is taking regional and global leadership too. It is hosting World Environment Day today, with the message being Beat Plastic Pollution. India has gone ahead and notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, which lays down an excellent framework for responsible plastic use. Individuals will be called on to exercise their power as consumers by second-guessing their shopping habits. If this happens enough, retailers will quickly get the message to ask their suppliers to do better. That will also spur changes in our throwaway consumerism. The linear model of planned obsolescence, in which items are designed to be thrown away immediately after use, needs a rethink.
Call for action
Indian business is also joining the call to action. It’s also crucial that we don’t see action as a cost, but rather an investment that will spare us huge negative externalities. It may be blocked sewers that flood neighbourhoods, pushing up local taxes and insurance premiums, or litter-strewn beaches that turn away tourists and ruin businesses. Just like climate change, plastic pollution is not something that once it hits is remotely easy to reverse. And just like climate change, it requires us to collectively slam the brakes. If we do that, the volunteers cleaning up their local beaches may one day be able to take a weekend to enjoy the sand, and we will have fulfilled our moral obligation to leave the planet in a better shape for future generations.
CK Mishra is Secretary, Environment. Erik Solheim is Head of the UN Environment Programme