"Plastic waste king" the United States blames the world and endangers the world

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 3

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Mengyao and Li Hualing

　　The resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly concluded on the 2nd in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

More than 2,000 representatives from nearly 200 member states attended the meeting, and the meeting passed the historic Resolution on Ending Plastic Pollution (Draft).

　　Analysts pointed out that the United States is the number one producer of plastic waste in the world, but it has long ignored the problem of plastic waste disposal, exported a large amount of waste and even smuggled it all over the world, and accused the countries that received the waste of polluting the environment. responsibility.

The United States has an inescapable responsibility for global plastic pollution, and solving the problem of plastic pollution also requires the United States to take action first.

Mass manufacturing refuses to be responsible

　　Daily plastic waste may seem inconspicuous, but it is a major event related to the health of the earth, and the crisis it has caused has attracted great attention from the international community.

　　According to a report released by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on December 1 last year, the United States is currently the world's largest producer of plastic waste.

The report calls on the U.S. government to introduce policies at the national level to address the growing problem of plastic waste.

　　According to the report, since the 1960s, the total amount of plastic waste in the United States has increased year by year, reaching about 42 million tons in 2016, ranking first in the world, and more than the total amount of plastic waste produced by all EU member states in the same year.

　　However, as the world's largest producer of plastic waste, the United States has always refused to join multilateral environmental protection treaties such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, setting obstacles to the process of global solid waste treatment such as plastic waste.

　　Jennifer Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a U.S. think tank dedicated to studying climate-related challenges and governance issues, pointed out that the U.S. has made several embarrassing firsts in terms of plastic waste emissions and exports.

The Australian "Dialogue" website published an article at the end of last year, pointing out that marine plastic waste has become a global problem, and the United States is the culprit.

　　Mohammad Adao, head of the "African Energy Transition" think tank headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, wrote in the American "Foreign Affairs" magazine that developed countries represented by the United States are "highly indebted" in environmental protection, and they have only made verbal commitments in the past few decades. , but little practical action.

Transferring the blame to the outside

　　"Science Advances" magazine, a subsidiary of the American "Science" magazine, published a research report stating that less than 10% of the plastic waste produced in the United States in 2016 was recycled, and a large amount of waste was shipped to developing countries. This practice has been used for 30 years. years.

　　The British "Guardian" reported that in 2018, plastic waste exports from the United States to Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam surged by nearly 2,000%, 273% and 46% respectively.

The environment and people's livelihood of Southeast Asian countries have been seriously affected by receiving plastic waste that far exceeds their own processing capacity. Since then, these countries have issued restrictions and refused to be the "garbage dump" of the United States.

Subsequently, the United States turned its attention to Africa.

　　According to US media reports, in 2020, the United States and Kenya will start negotiations on a trade agreement.

Among them, the United States proposed to invest in Kenya’s waste recycling and disposal industry, and asked Kenya to relax restrictions on the production and consumption of plastic products and cross-border trade, that is, to allow the export of American plastic waste to Kenya.

　　"Kenya clearly doesn't have the capacity to recycle and store the millions of tons of American waste ... which poses a huge threat to marine life, rivers, soils," said Frederick Nejesho, a member of the international environmental agency Greenpeace Africa. , not to mention the toxic fumes from the disposal of garbage.”

　　Kenyan international studies scholar Cavens Adhill said Kenya is not capable of handling this waste and should not be the recipient of it.

The draft resolution passed on the 2nd is important, but it remains to be seen whether it can prevent developed countries such as the United States from exporting plastic waste to developing countries.

　　Analysts pointed out that the United States has transferred a large amount of plastic waste to other countries, seriously endangering the local environment, which is extremely irresponsible, and the United States even accuses these countries of polluting the environment, which is really a thief.

The problem of plastic waste pollution is getting worse, and the United States should take responsibility for it.

Nick Marlos, a member of the Marine Conservation Society, pointed out that the United States must take action to reduce plastic waste pollution.