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Sun, Jul 01, 2018 – 21:59 PM
But that may be starting to change
Under pressure from activists, the European Union, Britain, India and even fast-food giants like McDonald's. s have all made progress to stop the use of plastic straws. Manufacturers are increasingly reluctant to ban single-use plastics.
According to the science magazine American Science, 8 million tons of plastic are dumped each year in the seas and oceans. kilograms every second.
For years, environmentalists have focused on plastic bags. But plastic straws are now in the spotlight, thanks in part to images that have become viral on the internet.
An online video about the danger posed by seemingly harmless straws shows a sea turtle saved from Costa Rica.
The British government announced in April that it was considering banning the sale of single-use plastics, including straws.
The European Union followed suit late May
Mumbai, Burger King, McDonald's and Starbucks was fined for violating a ban on single-use plastics, said an official in June
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to liberate his country from single-use plastics by 2022.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, McDonald's he is committed to making a transition to paper straws by 2019.
In France, the burger giant is testing alternatives.
By the end of 2018, offenders will leave their 650 properties.
"Punctured end to end, the straws spared each year (Europe, Middle East and Africa) would exceed the length of the Seine," the hotel chain
The five-star hotel Monte Carlo Palace in Monaco introduced biodegradable straws
Other use raw pasta and bamboo sticks.
The United States is resisting change as Europe takes the lead in biodegradable plastics made from fossil fuels or crops such as potatoes and corn.
According to the German Ministry of Agriculture, about 100,000 tons of bioplastics were produced. In 2017, the production capacity of biodegradable plastic reached 800,000 tons worldwide, said the industrial group European Bioplastics
. "This is not a very good sign," said Hervé Millet, director of technical and regulatory affairs for PlasticsEurope, the region's leading plastics manufacturers association.
Large companies also have concerns about their image and must at least try to find a way to meet society's expectations.
The plastic straw manufacturer Be, based in France, is also uncertain about how to do it
"The problem is not new and it's serious, so we obviously need find alternatives, "said the director of the company, Pierre Be
" We have been working on this for several months ". He added that it was "really complicated" to try to make the change overnight.
The experts, meanwhile, warn that biodegradable plastics may not be a miracle solution
"People think that biodegradable nature.But this is not the case at all," engineer Virginie Le Ravalec of the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management
A separate bioplastic waste collection system should be set up for the change to actually work.
Activists fear, however, that biological waste ends up in the oceans – a bit like plastic for decades.
"Over periods of days, weeks or even months, a bioplastic may present" Fiona Nicholls , from Greenpeace, warned:
As such, Nicholls says that the only hope of humanity is to reduce our use of plastics.
"Exchange one plastic for another. . is not a solution to the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways. "
AFP
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