Plastics only started to be made in large quantities after World War 2, but since then, the pollution from all the plastic we manufacture and use has become one of the most serious threats humanity faces. According to the IUCN, by 2015, 60% of all plastic ever produced had become plastic waste, and is practically everywhere - it’s in the air, in the soil, in freshwater, and in the sea. In 2019, only 9% of plastic waste was recycled globally, while 22% was mismanaged - the UN calls in a planetary crisis. In Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia estimates that the total annual post-consumer plastic waste generated here in 2016 was over one million tonnes, which could fill 76,000 rubbish trucks. With such a seemingly monumental crisis facing us, what must we do to stem the plastic pollution tide? We discuss what the sustainable production and consumption of plastics must be like with Tahirah Banu Mohamed Ariff, the Plastic Initiative Manager at WWF-Malaysia.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories:  environment,  government

Tags:  sustainable plastic production,  plastic pollution crisis,  microplastics,  wwf-malaysia,  sustainable consumption,  plastic waste,