The U.S. Claims the Title of Highest Plastic Waste
Often times, the amount of plastic trash found on our coast and in our beaches gets blamed on Asian countries due to them having a large part in extreme plastic waste, however, with reexamination, that is not always the case. China generates plastic, but the United States is the highest contributor of wasting that very plastic. At the highest spot in 2016, with 46 million U.S. tons the U.S. tops all other countries. Not only are we in the top of plastic waste, but we are also in the top three of litter contribution in general. For years we sent most of our plastic waste to China, and only recycled about 10% of it. Adding to the obvious problem, a lot of finger pointing is going on. Asian countries blame the United States and vice versa, both with very different data to back themselves up. Just last week, The National Academies of Sciences held a meeting for an 18 month research into the amount of waste being dumped into our oceans. At 4% of the global population, the U.S. generates about 17% of all plastic waste.
There needs to be a global solution in order to fix what we have already ruined. Not only are we wasting an extreme amount of plastic that could easily be recycled, but killing sea life and polluting our oceans as well. If the finger pointing stopped and everyone came together to make the desperately needed change, we could save at least one part of our planet.
I can't believe our country has the highest amount of plastic waste and didn't recycle very much of it. It's also crazy how we have 17% of all plastic waste when we take up 4% of the world's population. I definitely think this system should be improved so we stop interfering with and destroying other environments.
ReplyDeleteOur country needs to change in many areas. Plastic waste is one of them. People need to start recycling any plastic products, or reducing there use as a whole. With people minimizing the use, less plastic would exist to be littered. It's not that hard to pick up your trash and put it where it belongs. Just taking a couple extra seconds or minutes a day, could create a whole different Earth.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't surprise me that America is at the top of that list. People favor convenience and cost efficiency- both often provided by use of plastic products. In addition, the US does not have a well founded recycling system. It takes money to recycle plastics and due to lack of national support, recycling companies have been loosing money for years- some even resorting to just dumping the recycling in landfills like regular trash. More money need to be dedicated to recycling programs through the government and people should do their research to find good recycling companies that actually do their job as well as make a conscious efforts reduce plastic product use to solve this problem
ReplyDeleteI agree with Caroline. I think that our country needs to be putting more money into recycling. I think that things that support the maintenance and growth of our planet should come first. Without a planet, and land to live on, we have no need for funding or support towards other programs. America needs to prioritize things that will benefit us now and later and not just things that will benefit us now.
Delete