STUDY FINDS 20 FIRMS ACCOUNT FOR 55 % OF PLASTIC SINGLE-USE WASTE

A new study reveals that just 20 businesses produce 55 percent of the world’s plastic single-use waste.

Research by the Minderoo Foundation tracked the journey of polymers as they left factories and followed their journey into becoming single-use plastics, before being thrown away, according to Euronews.

Currently, single-use plastics account for the majority of the plastics which are thrown away annually. In 2019 the Foundation reported that over 130 million metric tonnes were thrown away in 2019 - most of this is burned, placed in a landfill, or at its very worst discarded into the environment.

Single-use plastics often end up in our oceans and make up most of the visible pollution you might see washed up on your local beach.

The report found that companies like ExxonMobil, a gas corporation, and Dow, a chemical manufacturer, top the list along with Sinopec, a petroleum and chemical company. Together these three companies single-handedly account for 16 percent of global single-use plastic waste.

ExxonMobil, the worst company for generating single-use plastic and polluting in the world, has contributed 5.9 million tonnes to the plastic pollutant problem, whilst Dow, the largest chemical company in the world, created 5.5 million tonnes of plastic waste.

The report also uncovered that many global banks and investors are funding single-use plastic creation by buying shares in the parent companies that produce the polymers. Since 2011 banks such as Barclays, HSBC, and Bank of America have lent close to €24.5 million ($30 million) to these parent companies, as result, they have directly contributed to the climate crisis and the battle against single-use plastics.

Out of the 20 companies found to be the worst polluters, three of them are based in Europe and have collective damage of 4.6 million tonnes.

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