By 2050, it is predicted that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish.
Plastic is terrible for the environment. David Attenborough really brought the issue home and now, brilliantly, we hear about it all the time.
In countries and cities around the world, the call for the end of single-use plastics is at an all-time high. Stores such as Iceland and Ikea have introduced plastic bans that will go into effect within the next couple of years. Meanwhile, plastic straws and cutlery have been targeted by numerous retailers, including McDonald’s in the UK, and having a plastic bag is enough to send you to jail in some countries.
Bans on plastic bags have already proved to be extremely effective in the countries that have them. In the UK, for example, the introduction of a 5p plastic bag charge introduced in 2015 has brought about an 83% reduction in plastic bag use.
Worldwide, about 2 million plastic bags are used every minute! In one hour our plastic pollution could fill the whole V&A museum!
Plastics have changed the world. However, the rapid growth of middle-class and industrial economies has drastically increased the world’s plastic consumption in recent decades – and infrastructure development has not kept pace. The result is a dramatic increase in plastic waste.