How do we solve the plastic catastrophe?

If the current trend of pollution continues, scientists predict that by the year 2050 there could be more plastic in our oceans than fish.

That is an extraordinary prediction.

Now, more than 40 large companies in the UK have signed an agreement.

The aim: to eliminate single-use plastic or packaging that cannot be reused.

The goal: to do it in the next seven years. 

The move is a first, and the decision is expected to be followed by companies in other countries.

Now, 1m plastic bottles are purchased every minute in the United States alone.

And approximately 500m straws are used and discarded there every day.

For coffee lovers in the UK, perhaps this figure will give you a jolt: 2.5bn disposable coffee cups are used each year.

So, what can companies and governments do to encourage plastic recycling?

 

Presenter: Jane Dutton

Guests:

Adrian Mars – science and technology journalist

Ali Mwanzei – deputy director in charge of field operations at Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority

Afroz Shah – a 2016 UN Environment’s Champion of the Earth winner, who focuses on pollution in the oceans