I'm clearing plastic 'tsunamis' from Guatemala's rivers – here's what needs to change

Ever wonder where your plastic rubbish ends up after you throw it away? Subscribe ► http://bit.ly/subscribegdn Eight billion tonnes of plastic waste are now polluting the entire planet, from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest ocean trench, according to a recent review published in the Lancet. And while countries and companies came together this week for the final round of talks on what would have been the world’s first treaty to limit plastic pollution, talks failed on Thursday after deadlock over whether it should reduce exponential growth of plastic production and put global, legally binding controls on toxic chemicals used to make plastics. In Guatemala, Guillermo Sosa has seen first-hand how plastic is choking the planet from his work clearing ‘trash tsunamis’ surging from the capital city to the rivers around it. It’s a job he’s worried he’s going to be doing for a long time. “This is the result – our rivers, oceans contaminated” says Sosa, operations manager at non-profit @theoceancleanup whose mission is to halt the trash flow from rivers, and remove legacy plastics from the oceans. It is estimated that roughly 40% of the ocean’s surface is covered in plastic debris and if our plastic consumption and behaviour continues, scientists warn that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean as soon as 2030. Plastics are a “grave, growing and under-recognised danger” to human and planetary health, a new expert review has warned. The driver of the crisis is a huge acceleration of plastic production, which is set to almost triple to more than a billion tonnes a year by 2060 – especially single use. Watch to find out more about where our plastic waste ends up – and what needs to be done about it. And read more about how petrostates and well-funded lobbyists helped derail a deal to cut plastic production and protect people and the environment by tapping the link ► https://ift.tt/xduP6HR #plasticpollution #plastic #plasticwaste #oceancleanup #pollution #guatemala