Ocean Clean Up, takeaways from Smart City Expo 2023
Clear actions for our oceans, beaches and wildlife
In 1930’s plastic was introduced to consumers and now 300 million tons of plastic waste is created every year. By 2023 single-use plastic is restricted in many European countries and outside, however we cannot forget the existing, growing islands of plastics created by human activity.
In our oceans there are five floating plastic islands that threaten to destroy much of the marine life and contribute to climate change. Between California and Hawaii, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch is three times the size of France and is the world’s biggest ocean waste repository, with 1.8 billion pieces of floating plastic which kill thousands of marine animals each year.”
8 Million tons of plastic waste ends up in the ocean every year
Which measures to take to tackle and stop plastic, and all sorts of other waste in waters and cities. Takeaways from latest Smart City Expo 2023 in Barcelona:
- Restrictions and bans on single-use plastic products and promote use of recycled plastics.
- Implementing taxes and economic initiatives to discourage the production of single-use plastics.
- Deposit Return Schemes on plastic items and recycling requirements for different types of plastics.
- Extended Producer Responsibilities(EPRs) by holding producers accountable.
- Enforcing requirements for governments to take responsibility for their waterways.
Niimaar CEO Enni Karikoski visiting the Smart City Expo 2023 where Niimaar Biowaste Box was showcased and used at the Nordic Baltic Pavillion. Niimaar Forever Bin collection helps to recycle and reduce waste in companies, other organizations and also households. Approximately an estimated 800,000 kg of waste recycled together with our customers.
With Niimaar volunteers we have also cleaned over 8000 kgs of waste from the European coasts.
Here are some important organizations to highlight which areworking hard to clean the waterways in different parts of the world, check them out:
Building a world free from waste and pollution.
Share Story
