We must bin the plastic in our oceans...

Charity displays litter in the seas

- SHAUNA CORR

WITH an estimated nine million tonnes of plastic entering our ocean each year, polluting waters and harming wildlife, Ireland has work to do.

The State is the EU's biggest producer of plastic, said An Taisce, but has the fifth lowest plastic recycling rate at 31 per cent.

What's worse is that the material takes between 450 to 1,000 years to break down. And when it enters the sea, "plastic pollution releases toxic gases" that can accelerate climate change.

But it also finds its way into the food chain when microplastics are swallowed by species that end up on our plates.

An Taisce, Flossie and The Beach Cleaners, Irish Doctors for the Environment and others have been working to highlight the impact of plastics on our marine environment and our health for years.

Work is underway at both Government and business level to stem the rising tide of plastics through the likes of deposit return schemes to tackle the 22 million drinks bottles Irish consumers buy every week and a proposed 20c tax on throwaway coffee cups.

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