Plastic killing millions, says Attenborough

SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH has warned that the growing tide of plastic pollution is killing up to a million people a year, as well as having devastating consequences for the environment.

A report on the impact of plastic pollution on the health of people estimates that between 400,000 and one million die every year because of diseases and accidents linked to poorly managed waste in developing countries.

Sir David, whose Blue Planet TV programme alerted the world to the damage plastic was doing to the oceans, said it was time to act “not only for the health of our planet, but for the wellbeing of people around the world”.

“We need leadership from those who are responsible for introducing plastic to countries where it cannot be adequately managed, and we need international action to support the communities and governments most acutely affected by this crisis,” he said.

The report, by charities Tearfund, Fauna & Flora International and Waste Aid, warns of a growing public health emergency, affecting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Just one in four people around the world have their rubbish collected, so plastic and other waste often ends up discarded in the environment, blocking waterways and drains. This leads to flooding, which, in countries with poor sanitation, leads to outbreaks of cholera and other diseases, as well as drowning.

Discarded plastic also provides a fertile ground for malaria and dengue-carrying mosquitoes which breed in the rainwater collecting in waste. The report also highlights the link between

plastic waste and air pollution. For many in low and middle income countries the only way to get rid of plastic and other waste is to burn it, releasing toxic fumes into the air.

The World Health Organisation estimates that air pollution is responsible for 3.7million premature deaths a year, and recent estimates suggest that open burning could be responsible for as much as a fifth of this death toll.

The report also highlights the unknown impact of microplastics – small pieces of plastic less than 5mm in diameter – on human health. The presence of microplastics in the oceans has been well documented, but the impact of microplastics in soils, sediments and fresh water is less well recognised.

The report says large multinationals, such as Coca Cola, Pepsico, Nestlé and Unilever, need to do more to both reduce the amount of single-use plastic that goes into their packaging and help low and middle income countries with their waste management.

It says that companies should report on the number of single-use plastic products they use and sell in each country by 2020. And, by 2025, they should reduce this amount by half and use reusable containers instead.

Joanne Green, senior policy adviser at Tearfund, said that the big multinationals should not be selling goods packaged in single-use plastics in countries that did not have the waste management systems to deal with them.

“People in developing countries have no choice but to burn or dump plastics. It’s not a responsible business model and we’re asking customers to sign a petition asking companies to change.”

She added: “We are also calling on donors to increase aid to government so they can support countries to implement things like bans. But this is a longer-term solution to an urgent problem…the generation of plastic is increasing rapidly.”