Main image via Twitter , NRDC
It is no doubt that the earth is in danger now, but more and more of us are becoming more environmentally friendly now. Unfortunately it’s too little too late as Malaysia has been named Asia’s worst ocean plastic polluters.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recently revealed an analysis of Asia’s worst ocean polluters, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. And sadly Malaysia is ranked at the top of the list.
WWF urges the government to limit single-use plastics and fund a recycling push with companies to stop plastics from the country to pollute the ocean.
The six Asian countries reportedly contribute a total of 60 per cent of the estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the world’s oceans every year.
The report mainly focused on household consumption of plastic packaging and it was found that people consumed 27 million tonnes of plastic back in 2016!
The annual per-capita plastic packaging consumption is the highest in Malaysia amongst the six countries too, which is about 16.8 kg per person, followed by Thailand’s 15.5 kg.
Carbon emissions associated with plastic also reached 860 million tonnes in 2019, which is more than the annual emissions of Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines combined.
“There is lots of food delivery, which is plastic packaging-heavy - but in addition, there are also a lot of day-to-day products bought in supermarkets,” Kuala Lumpur-based WWF coordinator Thomas Schuldt said.
He also added that Asia’s economy and populations is booming but the garbage collection services and infrastructure can’t keep up with the rapid pace of development.
Landfills that are filled with garbage also contribute to the plastic pollution when extreme weather washes them into rivers and seas.
The volume of plastic waste is set to quadruple between 2010 and 2050 and there could be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050!
He urged Malaysia to introduce regulations that limit single-use plastics and work with businesses and green groups to fund better recycling schemes, and encourage consumers to use less plastic packaging.
Plastic pollution kills marine life and also leads to human consuming them sometimes. So it’s time to save the ocean, and save ourselves before it’s too late.
Info via New Straits Times
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