Plastic pollution: US and UK world’s top sources of waste, suggests new study

US and UK are world’s third-largest plastic waste producer globally that toger contribute largely to marine plastic pollution, according to new research. Americans rank as high as third in world to generate  total plastic waste dumped in oceans as opposed to Asian nations, unlike researchers have argued previously. Ocean Conservancy in its new findings said, “ United States is a top contributor to coastal plastic pollution" and it shipped abro more than half of plastic collected for recycling in US. It ded that this was mostly to developing countries struggling to manage plastic waste. 

Researchers at Sea Education Association, DSM Environmental Services, and  University of Georgia, Ocean Conservancy published  study in  journal Science vances on October 31, stating, that new research must change way world thinks about United States' role in tackling global plastic pollution.

Scientists asserted that latest research analysis challenges “widely-held belief” among countries that United States is equately “managing” plastic waste". Managing plastic waste involves collecting and properly landfilling, recycling, however, new finding suggest that US has only “outsourced its massive 'plastic footprint' to developing countries", not being able to manage waste domestically. 

Re: Expect A Lot More Of Same If Trump Wins A Second Term

Re: COVID-19: Study Estimates Exposure To Air Pollution Increases Deaths By 15% Worldwide

Scientists cite data from World Bank

Calling US and UK as top contributors to global ocean plastics crisis, scientists at ocean Conservancy cited latest data from World Bank, saying, that developed countries outsourced upwards of one million metric tons of plastic waste overseas in 2016, mainly to Asia. Many of se Asian countries still lacked capacity to effectively manage gargantuan amounts of plastics. “25 per cent of se exports were so low-value or so contaminated, items like thin plastic films, dirty food containers, and food wrappers, that it was nearly unrecyclable," research found. Only 2 to 3 per cent of this plastic waste was dumped domestically in developed nations, it ded.

[ United States ranks as high as third among countries contributing to coastal plastic pollution. Credit: Ocean Conservancy]

“United States generates most plastic waste of any country in world (both overall and per capita),” study said.

With just over 4 per cent of world’s population, US contributed to 17 per cent of world’s plastic. According to scientists, re's an alarming need to manage and reduce plastic waste by 40 per cent for environmental cleanup and “United States must play a much larger role in dressing this global plastic pollution crisis." Furrmore, study concluded that US must work to "vance state and federal policy to reduce its production, while also ensuring we have capacity to manage remaining waste stream in all communities, both domestically and abro."

Re: Taiwan Air Force Jet Crashes Into Ocean, Killing Pilot

Re: Pompeo Brings Anti-China Roshow To Indian Ocean Islands