Every year, humans generate approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic waste, and an estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic enter the world’s oceans. This number is set to triple in the next twenty years if the world continues unchecked on this trajectory. Plastic pollution heavily impacts our ecosystems and is a serious problem that affects human health, especially in areas with less stringent regulations. Waste is a failure of design, and urgent action is needed to tackle this emergency and to redesign systems, products and habits.
Whilst negative news about plastic pollution regularly plagues us, it is good to recognise the efforts and measures where some countries have taken action to reduce it. For instance:
Strict reinforcement is definitely needed to ensure these bans prove effective in the long run, but governments recognising the severity of plastic pollution and implementing solutions to it are a decent start.
On 2 March 2022, 175 governments at The United Nations Environment Assembly came to a consensus to adopt a legally-binding global treaty to tackle plastic pollution. According to the UNEP Executive Director, this will be the “most important international multilateral environmental deal since the Paris Agreement”, and aims to be completed by 2024, and will address the full lifecycle of plastic, from production to disposal. Let us hope that this treaty will be a turning point for the plastic crisis!
Plastic Free July
What can you do as an individual? Plastic Free July is one of the most widely-practiced movements in the world, inspiring millions to be part of a future free of plastic waste, by minimising the daily use of single use plastic, even beyond the month of July.
Not only can you take action by yourself, you can inspire others to do the same, whether it is at home, at work, or in your local community.
What You Can DoWatching movies or documentaries on environmental issues is always a great way to ease people into the topic, plus, movies are usually entertaining!
Movie RecommendationsSay No to All Plastic (SNAP)
In 2019, YTL Corporation launched the Say No to All Plastic (SNAP) campaign with the end goal of achieving Zero Single Use Plastic (SUP) within YTL Group by 2025. Now in its third year, we are pleased to report the progress of our business units as of 2021. Please see below the recorded plastic consumption in our offices and hotels. (Click on each image for a larger view.)
If you are not familiar with SUP, here are some vocab recaps:
- SUP = plastic that is designed to be used only once before being disposed of.
- Avoidable SUP = plastic that can be easily substituted with more sustainable alternatives that serve the same function. These are typically not recyclable and are consumed in large quantities. The categories listed in red in the charts are avoidable SUP and are what we are aiming to eliminate.
- Unavoidable SUP = plastic items that usually have a crucial role and there are either currently no other available immediate alternatives or the alternatives are simply not financially feasible. The categories listed in green in the charts are unavoidable SUP.
We encourage our business units to develop and implement initiatives that make their operations more eco-friendly and which attempt to go plastic-free wherever they can. However, for plastics that have already been used, they (and even you) can refer to the latest SNAP Guideline 2022, which provides guidance on how to properly recycle or dispose of plastic items after consumption. Together, every one of us holds the power to shape and change our habits and in Making a Good Future Happen.
