The US is the world’s largest plastic polluter / Day

In 2016, the United States generated about 42 million tons of plastic waste – more than all European Union countries combined. China generated more than twice as much plastic waste this year.

Each American produces an average of 130 kilograms of plastic per year, the British an average of 99 kilograms, and the South Korean an average of 88 kilograms.

Report Taking into account the role of the United States in the global pollution of the oceans by plastic falls ordered by the U.S. Congress Act Save Our Seas 2.0 Act within. This law came into force in December 2020.

“The success of the miraculous invention of the 20th century, plastics, has also caused a flood of plastic waste on a global scale,” wrote a report by a committee of experts led by Margaret Spring.

She added that the global plastic waste is an “environmental and social crisis” that affects inland and coastal communities, pollutes rivers, lakes and beaches, creates economic burdens, threatens wildlife and pollutes the water that people use for food.

The report says that global plastic production has grown from 20 million tonnes in 1966 to 381 million tonnes in 2015, a 20-fold increase in half a century.

Initially, only ships and maritime industries were considered to be a source of plastic pollution in the oceans, but it is now known that almost any plastic on land can reach the sea by river.

Studies have shown that about 1,000 species of marine animals can become entangled in plastic or ingested by microplastics, which then enter the human body through the food chain.

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