A new study reveals that the world generates 57 million tons of plastic pollution annually, with over two-thirds originating from the Global South. This amount of waste could fill Central Park up to the height of the Empire State Building, researchers from the University of Leeds reported. The study focused on plastic that enters the open environment, not that which ends up in landfills or is burned; it found Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the biggest contributors due to inadequate waste management there.
Lagos, Nigeria, was highlighted as the highest producer of plastic pollution, followed by cities like New Delhi and Luanda. India tops the list with 10.2 million tons of plastic waste per year. While China, often criticized for environmental pollution, ranks fourth, it is making significant progress in waste reduction. The United States and the United Kingdom were far lower on the list, ranking 90th and 135th respectively. Study author Costas Velis said "the big time bomb of microplastics are these microplastics released in the Global South," but "we shouldn't put the blame, any blame, on the Global South. And we shouldn't praise ourselves about what we do in the Global North in any way."
Experts noted the study's narrow focus on post-consumer waste and emphasized the broader issue of plastic production's environmental impact. Chris Jahn, of the International Council on Chemical Associations, stated that improving waste management is crucial to ending plastic pollution. The United Nations projects plastic production to nearly triple by 2050. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
