Report says recycling plastic is making ocean litter worse
A report from the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) reveals that efforts to recycle plastic may constitute a major cause of the marine litter problem. The report sets out the case for incinerating waste rather than trying to recycle it. Most of the plastic waste comes from just a few countries, mostly in Asia and Africa.
About a quarter is “leakage” from Asian waste management processes, the rest is waste that has never been collected but is simply thrown into rivers. Europe exports huge quantities of waste into Asian waste management streams, ostensibly for recycling. About one fifth of this ends up in the oceans, says the report (Press Release GWPF, 28 June 2018).
Click here for the press release.
Click here for the report (259 kB).
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