| According
to statistics released by the United Nations, it was found that 1 million
bottles of plastic beverages are purchased every sixty (60) seconds worldwide.
That’s just for a minute, imagine how many plastic bottles there are for a year
- over 0.5 billion bottles, of which only 1 in 5 plastic bottles is recycled.
Globally, 5 trillion disposable plastic bags are produced, which will
eventually end up in landfills as well. Since not all of this plastic wastes
can be recycled, the waste will be collected and buried in landfills and will
take thousands of years to biodegrade. This is one of the causes of soil
pollution and if not addressed appropriately will lead to water pollution,
either ground water or surface water (‘surface water’).
On
average, as much as 13 million tons of plastic waste enters our water systems
around the world, resulting in water pollution from drains, rivers and the sea,
leading to flooding. This is a threat not only to marine life such as coral
reefs but also to birds and other animals that ingest plastic waste. Plastic
materials contain several chemicals that are mostly toxic, including
microplastics. It also serves as a ‘magnet’ to other pollutants including
dioxins, metals and pesticides which will pose further danger to the
environment, wildlife and even to us. Based on the on-going Brunei River
Cleanup Project, the main bulk of waste collected over the years were plastic
bottles, which was also one of the main reasons why this initiative was
developed.
Realizing
that plastic bottles are also major contributors of plastic waste, the “Plastic
Bottle Free Initiative” was launched on the 5th
June 2018 in conjunction with World Environment Day 2018 celebration. As the
Ministry responsible for the environment, the Ministry of Development adopted
the “Lead through example” approach and declared commitment to implement this
initiative by practicing green and sustainable habit(s) towards the intention
of becoming the first Plastic Bottle Free Ministry, before rolling it out and
expanding its coverage to the rest of the Ministries and eventually the general
public. | |
