Plastic pollution for ORAKI

On a worldwide scale

Numbers are clear, in the past 10 years, we generated more plastic than we have in the last 100 years combined and 50% of that plastic was only used once. Did you know that a single non-recycled plastic bottle ending up in a landfill will take up to four human lives to decompose? It is HUGE and it also affects oceans. According to Erik Solheimm, chief of ONU Environment: “it is believed that by the year 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fishes.” That includes bottles, small size particles, and plastic bags that are ingested by fishes and sea creatures, and that take over shores all over the world. GROSS!

What about here in Quebec?

Quebec is no exception. It is true that many cities like Montreal and Brossard banned one-time use bags on their territories, but the plastic use is still a major concern. According to the Montreal Metropolitan Community: “we use about 2 billions of thin plastic bags every year in the province of Quebec, but only 14% of them are recycled.” As for plastic bottles, the outcome is also disturbing. According to data collected by Recyc-Quebec, in 2008, we consumed in Quebec more than a billion of water bottles. Among them, only 44% were recycled and more than 560 millions of empty bottles ended up in landfills across the province. We can easily imagine that these numbers are similar 10 years later…