Ninety percent of river trash in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea is plastic, with bottles comprising the greatest portion of plastic river waste in Taiwan, a Greenpeace East Asia study found yesterday.
Greenpeace Taiwan plastic-free project director Chang Kai-ting (張凱婷) said the organization investigated more than 30,000 pieces of trash from the Tamsui (淡水河) and Zengwen (曾文溪) rivers in Taiwan, South Korea’s Han River and Hong Kong’s Lam Tsuen and Pui O rivers.
About 28,000 pieces, or 90 percent, were plastic trash, Chang said.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
While the trash was manually collected and counted in Taiwan and Hong Kong, drone images and artificial intelligence were used in South Korea, she said.
The results showed that most of the river trash in the three locations was single-use items such as plastic bottles and food containers, Chang said.
Food containers accounted for the most river-borne waste in Hong Kong at 25.85 percent, followed by daily necessities and their packaging at 16.71 percent and beverage containers at 15.8 percent, she said.
Most river trash in South Korea was plastic packaging at 82.1 percent, while the second-most was plastic bottles at 15.3 percent, she said.
Most of the identifiable plastic bottles in Taiwanese rivers were from well-known brands, including Uni-President, Vitalon Foods Co and Swire Coca-Cola, Chang said.
Plastic bottles top the list of river trash, even with years of recycling efforts, she said, adding that the results show plastic bottle waste cannot be remedied through recycling alone.
While more advanced measures are required from the government, beverage manufacturers should take responsibility for reducing plastics at the source by shifting to reusable cup systems, Chang said.
Greenpeace Seoul plastic-free project director and Global Plastics Treaty negotiation team member Nara Kim said that plastic pollution has gotten out of control due to overuse and overproduction, accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as threatening human health.
“We need a strong plastics treaty with an ambitious production cut which is at least 75 percent by 2040 to stand a chance of keeping the 1.5°C temperature rise” goal, she said.
The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a global plastics treaty is to be held in Busan, South Korea, this year.
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