New EU directives
In cooperation with the UN, the EU has prepared directives to reduce plastic waste in the environment.
It can take up to 400 years for nature to break down plastic.
Less than ten categories of single-use products account for more than 80-85% of all plastic pollution in the seas and oceans.
The major part of plastic litter in the seas and oceans comes from less than ten categories of single-use products that we use daily unknowingly or for convenience. They then end up in our seas and oceans by various routes.
Most of the litter consists of oil-based plastic products from various types of single-use packaging. This includes plastic bottles, food packaging, cigarette butts and plastic bags, but also sanitary products of various kinds. This plastic waste is usually not visible below the surface of the water. But broken down and in the form of microplastics it later re-emerges in the food we eat.
The combined knowledge of how these plastic particles will affect our health and environment in the future is very limited.
The UN's 14th sustainable development goal is about using the oceans, seas and marine resources sustainably. In cooperation with the UN, the EU has prepared an action plan to reduce plastic waste in the environment.
The regulation principally applies to single-use products. These are to be phased out and replaced by more environmentally friendly alternatives by 2023.
See the full list of plastic products due to be phased out
Cutting down on plastics
The debate about the future of our planet and the challenges of saving the environment has had an impact.
The debate about the future of our planet and the challenges of saving the environment has had an impact.
More than 320 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually on our planet. Less than 1% consists of bioplastic.
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Elfviksvägen 38
181 47 Lidingö
Sweden
Consumer Contact
- Telephone: +46 (0)8 678 66 60
- E-mail: info@ecofloss.se
