A new report by Euromonitor has revealed that plastic is a regular offender among ocean waste.
Plastics features prominently among the growing volumes of post-consumer waste littering the environment, as indicated by findings from Ocean Conservancy’s International Cleanup 2017 report. Among the top 10 collected items, cigarette butts were the most common pick-up at 1.9 billion butts to foam take-away containers in 10th place at over 365,000 units. Regulatory bodies, such as the United Nations and European Commission, also note the majority of these, typically single-use products, as main pollutants. Rosemarie Downey, head of packaging research at Euromonitor International comments, “Plastic beverage bottles and caps feature as prominent plastic pack materials occurring as waste. Within soft drinks, where plastic bottles are popular, PET bottle dominates whether that be for a bottle of water or another soft drink.”Plastic bottles sales highest
Downey says single-serve sizes enjoy strongest sales suited for all age groups and for on the go. Onward, plastic-bottled drinks sales are forecast to be driven by Asia Pacific, in part answering a need for safe drinking water, also buoyed by a growing consumer base that can afford to buy bottled drinks.“There are questions about how best to prevent plastic waste, this can result in removing the need for plastic or by replacing it with an alternative material,”she notes.
“The bottle is often last in the consumer’s hand so consumers hold a responsibility in disposal and to not simply throw away but to recycle and minimise waste,” Downey adds.
