BUSINESS NEWS


There are 150 million tonnes of plastic waste in the world’s oceans


Tourism needs to tackle crisis in plastic waste


Destinations are drowning in waste, says campaign group WWF. By Ian Taylor


Tourism is at the forefront of the “global emergency” in plastic waste and the industry needs to act urgently, with the Mediterranean among the worst-affected areas. Martina von Münchhausen,


sustainable tourism senior programme officer at campaign group WWF Germany, told the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) conference: “In 2016, the world produced 396 million tonnes of plastic – 53kg for every person on the planet. The way plastic is used as a single-use


64 19 DECEMBER 2019


material has transformed it into a planetary disaster.” Manufacturing plastic “produced


two billion tonnes of CO2, 6% of the annual global total”, she said. Yet vast quantities of it rapidly end up as waste. Von Münchhausen told the GSTC


conference in the Azores: “There are 150 million tonnes of plastic in the ocean and a truck-load enters the ocean every minute. “Mediterranean countries are the


fourth-largest producer of plastic, and all of it becomes waste in under a year. Most plastic isn’t biodegradable.


By 2030, we could have more plastic in the oceans than fish. It is toxic for the environment and for tourism. “In the Mediterranean, only 72%


of plastic is collected and disposed of – 550,000 tonnes a year goes into the sea, equivalent to 33,800 plastic bottles every minute.” Von Münchhausen contrasted the


action taken on the islands of Majorca, in Spain, and Zante, in Greece, saying: “In Majorca, plastic waste doubles in


Continued on page 62 travelweekly.co.uk


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