At United Nations (UN) oceans summit in New York, delegates from China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines said they would step up efforts to halt the flow of millions of tonnes of plastic waste into the oceans, the BBC reported.
UN officials praised the promises, which are not yet formalised, and which environmentalists say are not nearly urgent enough.
A 2015 study published in the journal Science estimated that 60% out of the eight million tonnes of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans every year came from five nations: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – much of it washed down rivers.
Ocean plastic waste is becoming an increasingly urgent problem. Plastic pollution affects even the remotest parts of the oceans, clogging reefs and beaches. Seabirds, turtles and other animals also ingest plastic of all sizes, killing them. Some personal-care products contain microplastic beads used as abrasives and these end up in the oceans as well. Over time, larger plastic items also break up into pieces, making it easier to be ingested by marine life and threatening humans who eat plastic-tainted fish and other seafood.
Another problem is that no one really knows exactly how much rubbish, and particularly plastic waste, ends up in the oceans every year.
To assess this problem, Australia’s science agency said on World Oceans Day that it will lead a global survey to provide hard numbers on the amount of litter entering the oceans by using data collected on coastlines and from cities across the globe.
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Source: The Straits Times, 9 June 2017