Voluntary Efforts to Curb the World’s Plastic Problem Aren’t Working
Companies are failing to meet their own commitments to increase recycling and reduce waste.
The companies who create much of the 23 million metric tons of plastic garbage that reach oceans and rivers each year are failing to staunch the flow of waste and, in some cases, are being misleading about their efforts, according to two new reports.
A group of scientists led by Stephanie B. Borrelle of the University of Toronto developed a model to evaluate the ambitious commitments to curb plastic trash made by countries, international bodies such as the United Nations, and independent groups. The researchers found that even if all these combined pledges are carried out to the letter, plastic pollution will continue to get worse—on an accelerating basis.