Plastic pepper balls pollute oceans and freshwater rivers.

According to the latest report, although scientists call on countries and enterprises to make more efforts to reduce plastics, it is expected that the amount of plastic pepper ball garbage flowing into the ocean will continue to increase every year, reaching 29 million tons by 2040.

According to the latest research published in the authoritative academic journal Science, the global inflow of small plastic pepper balls into the ocean has greatly increased, causing damage to the environment and threatening countless marine life. According to the report, although enterprises have invested in plastic reduction efforts, they still can't stop the continuous increase of plastic pellet waste.

The research report predicts that from 2016 to 2040, the amount of plastic flowing to the sea will nearly triple. Even if both enterprises and the government meet their commitment to reduce plastic waste, plastic pellet waste will only be reduced by 7% by 2040.

The report, jointly released by the non-profit organization Pew Charitable Trust and the sustainable consulting firm SYSTEMIQ, mentioned a number of measures to reduce plastics, calling on enterprises and the government to put more efforts into reducing the use of plastic pepper balls.

Plastic reduction consciousness: consensus of human beings

Seventeen experts and scholars from different regions used data to study and develop a set of global plastic supply chain model, which is called the first in history, and applied it to the process of plastic small pepper balls from production, consumption to disposal. Through these measures, it is estimated that the plastic small ball garbage flowing into the ocean can be reduced by more than 80%.

The researchers pointed out that if there is no action, the amount of plastic waste flowing into the ocean will continue to increase every year, from 11 million tons in 2016 to 29 million tons in 2040. Looking at the global coastline, there will be an average of 50 kilograms of plastic pepper ball waste per meter. In addition, during this period, a total of 600 million tons of garbage flowed into the ocean, about the weight of 3 million blue whales.

Under the pressure of consumers and regulatory authorities, many heavyweight consumer goods enterprises around the world have promised to reuse, recycle or compost packaging materials within five years. Most enterprises also emphasize the use of more recycled materials in product packaging, and also use this as a selling point to attract customers.

Masks are also full of beaches under the epidemic.

However, environmentalists think that these promises are not enough at all, because enterprises only focus on recycling plastics, not reducing their use. For example, large enterprises such as Wal-Mart, Nestle and Baoqiao have said that they plan to reduce unnecessary packaging and use reusable containers, but rarely announce the goal of reducing plastics.

According to the report, the use of plastic pepper balls per person in the world has increased significantly, which is the reason for the worsening marine plastic pollution. In addition, the large-scale use of unrecoverable plastics by enterprises and improper waste management in many countries are also one of the culprits for the sharp increase in plastics. Winnie Lau, senior manager of Pew Charitable Trusts and co-author of the report, said that plastic pollution is a problem that affects everyone. "If nothing is done, the situation will be worse."

According to the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), during Covid-19, the consumption of disposable plastics increased sharply. In the remote seaside of Asia, countless masks and latex gloves were washed ashore. Due to the epidemic situation, the demand for online shopping and delivery points has greatly increased, which has made the number of lunch boxes and online shopping packages thrown into global landfills reach a new high.