Oceans To Hold More Plastic Than Fish by 2050
There will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050 unless more recycling takes place. That is what a new report from the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation warns.
塑料垃圾已经泛滥成灾了吗?今年1月，达沃斯世纪经济论坛和艾伦·麦克阿瑟环保基金会(Ellen MacArthur foundation)发出的警告引发人们热议：到2050年，世界各大海洋中的塑料垃圾总重量将超过海中鱼类。这样的警告是危言耸听吗?
If the current trend continues, the report said, oceans will contain one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in 2025.
By 2050, plastics will weigh more than fish, the report said.
The problem is that each year at least 8 million tons of plastics end up in oceans around the world.
The report said this is the same as dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute.
Not all plastic ends up in the ocean because someone throws a plastic bottle into the water.
Plastic containers and other trash thrown onto streets and sidewalks often are swept into oceans. The debris travels from storm drains during rain storms, said the environmental group Marine Defenders.
Some end up in gyres. A gyre is a big whirlpool that traps and moves the plastic in circles.
Unlike other types of trash in the ocean, the plastic never bio-degrades. That means it does not break down.
There is a way to slow the amount of plastics going into the oceans -- people can recycle more. That is a major recommendation of the report by the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
The report’s authors say that currently only about 14 percent of plastics are recycled.
It said research in Europe shows as much as 53 percent of plastic could be recycled using available technology.
The report says that another solution is using less plastic for packaging products. But that is not likely to happen, the report’s authors say.