UN Report Urges Immediate Action to Curb Plastic Waste

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The recently published UN report focuses on the urgent need for co-ordinated action to cut plastic waste. It is being released just ahead of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) summit, which aims to propose strict action plan to end marine plastic pollution by 2030.

The report by the UN's Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) highlights the impacts of plastics on freshwater species in rivers and also on land animals and birds, including migratory species in the Asia-Pacific region.

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The creatures in industrialised and polluted areas are highly exposed to plastics and associated contaminants. As per studies, nearly 80% of the plastic in oceans originates on land, which is then carried into the oceans by rivers. Of late, there have been several efforts to clean up the oceans, but it is high time that we focus on solutions that prevent plastic pollution upstream, the report noted.

The UN report states that the Ganges and Mekong river basins together contribute approximately 200,000 tons of plastic pollution to the Indian and the Pacific Ocean every year. It cited discarded fishing gears as one among the major threats.

It recommends strategies to prevent dumping of plastic waste in the environment and methods to reduce waste through better design and recycling.