To mark the start of Plastic Free July, Greenpeace has released a startling video showing Auckland’s Eden Park stadium filled with around one billion single-use plastic bottles.
The short CGI video vividly illustrates the number of throwaway single-use plastic bottles sold in New Zealand every year by corporations such as Coca-Cola.
“To avoid using real plastic bottles, we have rendered the video with CGI, but the picture it paints is very real,” explained Greenpeace spokesperson Juressa Lee.
“Only a small portion of single-use plastic is ever recycled, but all of it inevitably breaks down into microplastic pollution.”
Plastic Free July: Governments must take more action
Today is the first day of Plastic Free July, which encourages the world to make an extra effort to reduce its use of plastic.
However, while those efforts are important, individual action alone can only make a small dent in the plastic pollution crisis. We have to see government action to bring about lasting change.
Lee said: “Microplastics are now found in the ocean, in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, our blood, and even our placentas.
“It’s everywhere, and it’s not yet clear what health impacts that may lead to, but the oil and plastic industry just keeps pumping it out.”
Do single-use plastic bottles need to be banned?
After playing a key role in the campaign to ban plastic bags and to get the Government to begin phasing out some other single-use plastic products, Greenpeace is calling for a shift to a reusable model for drinks and a ban on single-use plastic bottles.
“Over 100,000 people have signed our petition calling on the Government to ban single-use plastic bottles, and we hope this stark illustration of the sheer volume of plastic bottles sold in New Zealand every year will prompt even more people to join the call,” Lee said.
Globally, it is estimated that only 9% of all plastic waste produced has been recycled, and production by petrochemical companies is projected to increase.
The amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfills and less than a fifth recycled. Plastic bottles are the biggest contributors to this.
The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive year according to Break Free From Plastic.
