whatilearned
Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/whose-fault-is-plastic-waste-in-the-ocean/a-49745660
TIL China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam account for nearly half of all plastic waste that flows from land into the ocean. North America, the largest consumer of plastic goods, only accounts for 5%
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Does this take into account the amount of waste that the USA ships to those exact same countries you listed?
Yes, the U.S. has such a good rate because we ship all of our plastic to China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. My family use to bundle commercial plastic to sell to China before the trade war, ‘plastic recycling’ is a joke.
This is actually an interesting statistic, that being said still pick up your trash people, and thank you to those who do.
This is why US politicians thinking they can combat climate change by legislation of Americans is asinine. It wouldn’t even move the needle.
Even if that’s true, we should not be doing this finger pointing about which country contributes the most to each form of pollution and environmental destruction. It’s all connected. America imports most of its goods from Asia, and that includes plastic items. Until recently, China took a large portion of our recyclable trash to make products. Container ships and barges full of it. The United States is the second biggest CO2 polluter, always neck and neck with China and India for that title. And like with the other examples I made, a great deal of their carbon emissions are a result of the goods they manufacture for the US.
I could go on and on. I don’t mean to lecture, it’s just that these kind of stats are often used to fight about why a nation should not have to sign a climate change agreement. While we bicker, our planet is roasting. We need to work together globally.
The recent flooding in China prly isn’t gonna help. Man that has been brutal to see.
And it’s oy a handful of people in those countries that dump the plastic into the ocean.
It wouldn’t surprise me if all the plastic waste in the ocean is because of a hundred or so lay managers at landfills who are like “wtf am I gonna do with all this waste? Fuck it, let’s dump it into the ocean “
Yeah, but that’s only because we switched to paper straws. /s
Very interesting statistical data. I don’t feel so guilty anymore. Thanks!