Our health is seriously damaged by plastic and the chemicals in it
Minderoo Foundation releases new report: Our health is seriously damaged by plastic and the chemicals in it.
Who will free the Mediterranean Sea of the plastic soup?
Amsterdam, 23 June 2018 – The most polluted seas in the world are the enclosed seas. On World Environment Day, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a report about the plastic soup in the Mediterranean Sea. The WWF concludes that the concentration of microplastics is four times higher here than the highest concentration in the Pacific Ocean. The plastic that leaks into the Mediterranean Sea remains there forever, trapped in the enclosed sea.
The report, entitled Out of the plastic trap. Saving the Mediterranean from plastic pollution, notes that most of the plastic pollution comes from Turkey and Spain, followed by Italy, Egypt and France. Half of the waste in countries such as France, Spain and Italy still ends up in landfills. Much of it blows into the sea.
Economic sectors such as the fisheries and tourism are experiencing increasing levels of plastic pollution, even as they themselves are contributing to it. The fisheries are facing about 62 million Euros of damage caused by falling fish catches and damage to boats. Half of all sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs. For tuna, this is one of five tuna.
The WWF argues for stringent international and national measures. Among the international measures should be an international treaty with binding reduction measures and agreements about trade in plastic waste and criteria for recycling. The national measures should include a 100% recycling target plus a ban on plastic bags and single-use plastics. A ban on microplastics in personal care products should also be passed. The Plastic Soup Foundation has been campaigning on this issue since 2012.
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FUTURE FABRICS EXPO LONDEN
On June 25 and 26, the Future Fabrics Expo 2024 took place in London. The thrust of this fair is to show that it is quite possible to make clothes from sustainable materials.
IN MEMORIAM – Dick Vethaak
On June two, 2024, Professor Dick Vethaak passed away. With him is lost a great and progressive scientist, but above all, a wonderful husband and father.
Towards a global Plastic Treaty
By the end of this year, there should be a global plastic treaty that will stop plastic pollution of our planet. To achieve this, the United Nations environment department is organising the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee on Plastic Pollution negotiations. The 4th round, INC4, took place in Ottawa Canada. The new plastics treaty is considered one of the most important environmental agreements made since the Paris climate accords in 2015. The stakes are high and that was evident in Ottawa.
