September 5,
2024
Plastic waste is
pummeling the South Pacific, polluting coral reefs and lagoons, washing up in
tons on sandy shores and accumulating in a giant mass in the ocean. Ocean
currents put Pacific Island nations at the front lines of the global plastic
pollution crisis, even though the islands’ 2.3 million inhabitants contribute
less than 1.3 percent of the world’s plastic waste. In just five years, experts
predict that up to 53 million tons of plastic pollution will impact the lives
of Pacific Islanders annually.
Residents on boats collect recyclable plastics from the heavily polluted
Citarum River in Batujajar, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, on June 12,
2024.
