India pledges to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022
India has pledged to eliminate the use of all single-use-plastic items like straws, plastic bags, and water bottles, by the year 2022.
India has pledged to eliminate the use of all single-use-plastic items like straws, plastic bags, and water bottles, by the year 2022. The pledge, which was announced on World Environment Day, comes one week after the European Union announced a proposed ban on single-use plastics.
Since the 1950s, an estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced, of which only an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% of plastic waste has been incinerated. The large amount of plastic waste the world produces inevitably enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris. This commitment is intended to send strong messages to the world which is threatened with increasing plastic pollution due to the huge amounts of environmental degradation it causes.
During his speech, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi mentioned that the country is preparing to join the “Clean Sea Campaign” and make its contribution towards saving the world’s oceans. “Plastic threatens to become a menace to humanity. A lot of it never makes it to the recycling stations,” said Modi.