Clean Seas Campaign Boosts Efforts to Tackle Plastic Pollution

The use of bio-fences is expected to save the Motagua River-Guatemala’s largest river from pollution.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Guatemala has joined the United Nations (UN)-led Clean Seas Campaign, aimed at reducing plastic pollution in the oceans. The decision was announced by Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Guatemala, Alfonso Alonzo on the sidelines of the XXI Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean held recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Guatemala pledged to fight plastic pollution through innovation and community participation. The country stops plastic from entering the ocean by placing bio-fences in rivers. These fences, crafted with recovered plastic debris, will help to collect plastic waste from rivers, thereby blocking their entry into oceans. The collected plastics are recycled, creating new sources of income to residents. In addition to the use of bio-fences, the country also aims to introduce education campaigns to reduce plastic consumption and set up more treatment facilities.

The use of bio-fences is expected to save the Motagua River-Guatemala’s largest river from pollution.

Estimates suggest that nearly 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in oceans every year, posing threat to entire marine life. Also, Latin America and the Caribbean countries dispose approximately 17,000 tonnes of plastic waste in informal dumps or in the environment, majority of them ending up in oceans through local waterways and rivers.

Till date, more than 50 countries have signed up to the campaign, out of which 16 are from Latin America and the Caribbean.

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