Go global on plastic waste

Sir, – In David Attenborough’s excellent Blue Planet series he highlighted the millions of tonnes of plastic waste dumped in the sea every year, destroying the environment and entering human and animal food chains.

He has said: “We have a responsibility, every one of us, we may think we live a long way from the oceans, but we don’t.

“What we actually do here, and in the middle of Asia and wherever, has a direct effect on the oceans – and what the oceans do then reflects back on us.”

Nicola Sturgeon has announced a bottle deposit scheme to reduce the amount of Scottish waste entering the sea, but this is, literally, a drop in the ocean.

Ninety percent of the plastic entering the oceans comes from 10 rivers in Asia and Africa, including the Nile, Ganges, Yangtze and Mekong.

We can and should do much in Scotland but if, as Ms Sturgeon says: “Scotland must lead change, not trail in its wake,” then surely this must include applying our resources to helping other countries overcome this problem.

Otherwise, this is just more virtue signalling. Allan Sutherland. 1 Willow Row, Stonehaven.

Scotland’s biggest celebration of Gaelic language, music and culture has shown economic impacts between £2.5 million and £3.5 million in recent years, a significant return on investment for a £160,000 spend over a five-year period