Plastic Waste Accounted for 70% of Trash in Japan

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The recent survey conducted by Japanese Prefecture revealed that plastic waste accounted for bulk of the trash in Lake Biwa- Japan’s largest freshwater lake.

The report published by the Shiga Prefectural Government authority, based on estimation of the collected trash from cleanup activities held at various locations over the past few years, said that plastic waste accounted for nearly 70% of the total trash. A total of 322.2 kilograms of garbage was collected from the lake bottom. Out of these, 170.4 kilograms was plastic waste.

Among plastic waste, plastic shopping bags and other types of bags totalled 74.4 kilograms, thereby accounting for majority of the plastic waste, said Lake Biwa Conservation and Restoration Division. The plastic bags were found piled up on top of each other. The Division called upon people to reduce use of plastic shopping bags. The recent government order that mandates stores to charge for disposable plastic bags would lead to significant reduction in plastic bag use, it added.

Meantime, the Recycling Society Promotion Division announced that it would continue its efforts to spread awareness about the environmental impacts of plastic bags and the need to avoid them.

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