Countries Putting The Most Plastic Waste Into The Oceans

Environmental pollution is becoming a huge issue of late. From global warming to air pollution and water pollution, we as human beings are experiencing devastating results due to all such kinds of havoc being caused. Newer types of health problems arise every passing day, and the medical industry is facing many challenges to find the cures to such ailments. Though many factors contribute to such pollution, one main factor considered as a major cause for such environment pollution is improperly managed plastic waste. This drastically affects the sea environment, killing thousands of marine life like marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds. Bisphenol A, a chemical released from waste bottles and packaging containers thrown away by the seashore, when consumed by the fish causes health problems to those who eat such infected fishes. Many rare sea plants have become extinct due to discarding plastic wastes in the seas. A detailed analysis shows the impact of plastic waste on the overall environment.

Countries With The Most Mismanaged Plastic Wastes

Nearly 513 million tons of plastics wind up in the oceans every year out of which 80% is from just 20 countries in the World. While China, India and America are in the list of contributors to this havoc, other countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, Bangladesh and South Africa contribute their own share in a considerable manner. According to a recent research, the top 5 polluters are China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. A detailed look at the share of each country to this marine pollution gives out a clearer picture of the major culprits. While China is a major polluter, contributing 8.82 tons of plastic wastage that wind up in the earth's seas annually, it is certainly not alone. The contribution of other offending countries are Indonesia (3.22 tons), the Philippines (1.88 tons), Vietnam (1.83 tons), Sri Lanka (1.59 tons), Thailand (1.03 tons), Egypt (0.97 tons), Malaysia (0.94 tons), Nigeria (0.85 tons), Bangladesh (0.79 tons), and South Africa (0.63 tons).

Not only does such a large volume of plastic waste pollute the sea environment and affect human health in an indirect way, but the economic cost to clear such litter and combat cost to manage the situation is huge. India, which is currently in the 12^th place, is expected to jump rank in the forthcoming years if conscious efforts are not taken by the Indian Government in the immediate years to come.

Measures To Reduce Plastic Waste Mismanagement

While countries grow, their plastic consumption also tends to grow and the anticipated plastic pollution trend in the future is threatening the globe. Statistics show that throwaway junk in the form of plastic bags and bottles has risen by 620% since the year 1975. Unless the spillover from the Waste Management Systems are avoided, the future appears very bleak in terms of environment, particularly that of marine lives. Countries must focus in building strong spill-free Plastic Waste Management System with a clear objective to prevent the marine environment from getting polluted. Proper plastic disposal methods must be administered by every country so that the disposal does not happen in a haphazard manner destroying the marine environment.