Reduce plastic waste! July 29, 14:28

From July 1st, the charge for shopping bags started. It is a system to reduce plastic waste. Please see the image about such a theme.

Garbage that sinks to the seabed

It is the sea bottom of Sagami Bay with a depth of about 1300 meters. Do you know what the white thing in the back of the fish is? It looks like a jellyfish, but it's actually a shopping bag!
Let's look at the junior high school entrance examination problem regarding plastic waste.

Problem
“Please select three correct items and answer with a symbol to explain plastic garbage.”
A restaurant chain has announced a policy to abolish disposable plastic straws, and the movement to abolish is accelerating globally. There is.
B. At the 2018 G7 Summit, all participating countries signed the "Marine Plastics Charter" that includes reduction of plastic waste from the sea.
C China imported plastic waste as recyclable waste from Japan, the United States, and Europe.
D. Most of the plastic that has flowed into the sea breaks down to less than 5 mm due to waves and ultraviolet rays, and then melts away in a short time.
It has been pointed out that if fish swallow plastic waste, the food chain may adversely affect the human body.
Japan's plastic waste emissions per capita are among the lowest in the world.
(Junior High School for Girls 2019)

Plastic waste reduction movement

There are six choices, let's start with the first one.
"There are restaurant chains that have decided to abolish disposable plastic straws, and the move to abolish is accelerating globally."
Is this correct?

As for plastic straws, the big American coffee chain announced in 2018 that it will completely abolish it. Even in Japan, major restaurant chains have been abolished, and corn has been replaced with raw materials. So, the choice A is the correct content.

Continuing choices.
"At the G7 Summit of 2018, all participating countries signed the "Marine Plastics Charter" that includes reduction of plastic waste from the sea." The
"Marine Plastics Charter" was approved at the G7 held in Canada in 2018. I will. However, the content of the plan was to reduce the number of disposable plastics and set numerical targets for recycling, so Japan and the United States did not sign that they could not coordinate with the industrial world. Therefore, option a is incorrect.

How about the choice c?
“China imported plastic waste as recyclable garbage from Japan, the United States, Europe, etc.”
China imported plastic refuse as recyclable garbage from each country until the end of 2017. Option C is the correct content. However, we are currently banning imports because of environmental pollution.

Marine plastic litter is gaining interest

Production of plastic began around 1950. In recent years, marine plastic litter has become of increasing concern as an environmental issue. How much plastic is in the sea?
We asked Ryota Nakajima, a researcher at JAMSTEC.

Mr. Nakajima:
“To date, there have been 8.3 billion tons of plastic made between 1950 and 2016. For example, if you lay it up to a heel and ankle, it will be the area of ​​Argentina. To say the least, 1.8 If% leaks, it's said that there would be about 150 million tons in the sea."

What happens to the plastic that flows into the sea?

Choice d.
"Most of the plastic that has flowed into the sea breaks down into less than 5 millimeters due to waves and ultraviolet rays, and then melts away in a short time
. " Is this correct?

Nakajima:
“Plastic has a very stable and durable structure, so it will take thousands or 10,000 years to decompose it in nature, even at the molecular level, for example. It's not going to disappear, it's still in the ocean as plastic all the time."

So this option d is wrong. It means that less than 1% of the total plastic found near the sea surface and 99% of the rest are unknown where and how much.

Plastic trash floating on the sea floor

Last year, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology conducted a survey of the deep sea off the Boso Peninsula and found out the actual state of garbage in the sea.

A toothpaste tube was found in the water at a depth of 6000 meters. And on the bag of hamburg, there was the word of production 1984. The plastic waste from more than 30 years ago remains the prototype.

Past research also found the first plastic bag I saw.

Mr. Nakajima: It was
pretty shocking or scary, because there are so many shopping bags, because the deep sea is so dark that mud can be seen on the dark sea floor and white things suddenly emerge eerily. When I looked, it was often a shopping bag.''

The influence of microplastics

The heat causes the plastic to become brittle and shatter due to the force of the waves, making it smaller. Those smaller than 5 mm are called microplastics.
Then, what about option o, "It has been pointed out that if a fish swallows plastic, it may have an adverse effect on the human body through the food chain?"

Mr. Nakajima
: It is said that plastic absorbs a little greasy organic pollutant like a sponge. Fish eats microplastic that adsorbs pollutant, which accumulates in fat, and then eats the creature. It is also said that the poison will be further concentrated in the body.

The influence of the food chain has been pointed out.

How much plastic is emitted in Japan?

Finally, let's check the options.
"Japan has the lowest per capita plastic waste emissions among the world's countries." According to
UNEP = United Nations Environmental Program, Japan is the second largest plastic waste emission after the United States, so the choice is wrong. Will be.

Therefore, the correct answer to the problem will be the options a, u, and o.

I also need to review

Nakajima says reducing plastic bags and straws is the first step.

Mr. Nakajima:
“Because of what you can reduce, reduce it. Anyway, disposable plastic is the biggest problem. It is limited to reducing it. Most of the plastic in the sea is disposable plastic. If elementary school students try it 1 I think you'll see that if you don't throw away all the plastic trash that your family or your family gives you for a week, you just put it all out in a week.''

It doesn't disappear when you throw it out as garbage and it disappears in front of you. Someone accepts it or keeps drifting in the sea for a long time. It may be necessary to reconsider your lifestyle and consciousness.

“Weekly Marukai News” (broadcast on Saturday at 9 am), “Migake, Curiosity!” delves into the news every week, focusing on current affairs issues that were presented in the entrance examination.
Let's think of "Why?" ..

On the home page of the corner, you can also review all the times from the first broadcast of April. Please take a look!