Nations responsible for much of the world's ocean plastic pollution have promised to start cleaning up their act. At a UN oceans summit, delegates from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines said they would work to keep plastics out of the seas.
Some of environmentalists say the measures proposed are not urgent enough. But UN officials praised the statement. Meeting in New York, they said it was part of a clear international action against ocean pollution. Eric Solheim, the UN's environment director, told BBC News， "There are quite encouraging signs, with nations taking the ocean much more seriously. Of course, there is a very long way to go because the problems are huge."
It is estimated that 5-13 million tons of plastics flow into the world's oceans annually. Much of it is eaten by birds and fish – and fragments of plastic have even been found in organisms at the bottom of the ocean.
A recent paper said much of the marine plastic often originates far from the sea – especially in countries which have developed consumer economies faster than their ability to manage waste. Reducing the plastic loads in these rivers by 50% would reduce global plastic inputs by 37%, it said. A report to the UN conference from the Thailand government says most marine plastic debris is land-based, caused by inefficient waste management and poor handling of plastic wastes. In Thailand, the total amount of garbage finding its way into the sea was estimated at 2.83 million tons in 2016—of which 12% was plastic.
The Thai government says the nation has established a 20-year strategy to deal with the problem, including sparing money for keeping plastic out of the sea and encouraging eco-packaging design and eco-friendly substitutes for plastics. In Indonesia, the government is starting a mass education programme for school children, and in Philippines new laws are being developed, and part of the challenge is finding substitutes for plastics. An international prize for smarter materials and design for packaging was launched recently by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
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