New Inventions and Plans to Stop Plastic Pollution! ♻️🌍

Hey there! Have you ever wondered where all the plastic goes after we throw it away? 🧐

Every year, people around the world make more than 400 million tonnes of plastic! That’s like the weight of 2 million blue whales! 🐳 But here’s the problem: less than 10% of that plastic gets recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, gets burned, or worse, ends up in our rivers and oceans, hurting animals and nature. 😢

World Environment Day is on June 5th each year, and in 2025, the theme is “Ending Plastic Pollution”. 🌳 The United Nations wants everyone to help find ways to stop plastic from harming our planet.

What Are Countries Doing?

Countries are making new plans and using cool technology to fight plastic pollution. Let’s see what they’re up to!

China’s Big Ideas

China is working hard to reduce plastic waste. They’ve made new rules to improve how plastic is made, used, and recycled. For example:

• By the end of 2024, online shopping companies in China reached a 95% rate of packages without extra wrapping. That’s a lot less waste! 📦
• Companies like Cainiao used special boxes that can be reused up to 50 times! They saved over 100,000 tonnes of packaging material in one year. That’s like saving 500 blue whales worth of plastic! 🐋
• JD.com, another big company, made their packing tape thinner, using much less plastic. 🎁

Cool New Materials

Scientists in China are making new kinds of plastic that biodegrade, which means they break down safely in the soil. 🌱 They use special materials like PBAT, PLA, and others that turn into water and carbon dioxide over time, without hurting the environment.

By 2023, over 20 provinces started using these biodegradable plastics on farms for crops like potatoes and peanuts. 🥔🥜 This helps keep the soil clean and healthy.

What’s Happening in Other Countries?

France made a law that banned plastic packaging for 30 types of fruits and vegetables starting in January 2022. 🍎🥕 They plan to get rid of even more plastic packaging by 2026.

Spain also has new rules to cut down single-use plastics by 50% by 2026 and 70% by 2030. They want companies that make plastic to help pay for cleaning up and teaching people about the problem. 🧼

How Can You Help? 🤔

Even though big plans are in place, everyone can do something to help!

• Use reusable bottles and bags instead of plastic ones. 🛍️
• Recycle whenever you can. Look for recycling bins and use them! ♻️
• Tell your friends and family about why reducing plastic is important. 👪
• Support products that use less plastic or are biodegradable. 🌿

Together, we can make a big difference! Let’s help our planet stay clean and beautiful! 🌎💚

Reference(s):

Ending plastic pollution: Policy and technological innovation

cgtn.com