An estimated 86 million tons of plastic are floating in and on the oceans.
Animals often ingest parts of it with their food.
Gröbenzell
- In 2013, 17 kilos of plastic waste were discovered in the stomach of a sperm whale that was washed ashore in Andalusia.
In order to draw attention to this problem, the Bund Naturschutz is showing an exhibition in the library until October 17th.
The name of the show: plastic, curse or blessing.
"The Germans see themselves as recycling world champions," reported the chairwoman of the Bund Naturschutz (BN) Gröbenzell Ariane Zuber at the opening.
As she continued, however, only 15.6 percent of the 5.2 million tonnes of plastic waste generated in Germany in 2017, for example, were recycled.
Visibly horrified, Zuber reported that most of the plastic waste from Germany is being exported.
"It is thrown at the feet of developing and emerging countries."
After the USA and Japan, Germany is the third largest exporter of plastic waste.
“But sometimes it takes 450 years for plastic to break down,” says Zuber.
At the same time, according to the BN chairman, the Germans are European champions in the manufacture of plastic, in 2011 20.7 million tons were produced here.
Between 1950 and 2015 it was 8.3 billion tons worldwide.
Most of it was single-use products and packaging.
Microplastics are a big problem.
This can be found in cosmetics, toothpaste, shower gels, but also in textiles such as fleece jackets.
Microplastics can practically not be filtered out of the wastewater and thus end up in the water.
Microplastics in the soil
But plastic is also being used more and more in agriculture, around 6.5 million tons annually.
Microplastics are therefore not only found in bodies of water, the soil is also contaminated with them.
Zuber warned: "Every citizen now eats five grams of plastic a week." She therefore demanded, "We urgently need a supply chain law", because "short delivery routes require less plastic packaging".
Abrasion from car tires
The exhibition does not only show the problems caused by plastic.
It also shows what alternatives there are.
A lot of microplastics are created, for example, by abrasion from car tires, says Zuber.
That is why it is better to leave the car behind and switch to public transport.
You can use bamboo or metal for the storage boxes.
And instead of fresh old or aluminum foil you can use beeswax cloths.
Mayor Martin Schäfer and numerous local councilors also attended the opening of the exhibition.
They found out firsthand what Zuber would like for Gröbenzell, namely to become Germany's first zero-waste community, i.e. that Gröbenzell produces zero waste.
Because “the best rubbish is the one that is not created,” said Zuber.
Which means reducing consumption, avoiding waste, not throwing defective products in the trash, but repairing and recycling them.
Kiel has already achieved this, reported Zuber.
It became the first zero-waste city in Germany.
The exhibition can be seen during the opening times of the library.
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