• It is learned that five countries viz; China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand dump more than half of the eight million tonnes of plastic waste that end up in oceans every year.
• This was reported by the Ocean Conservancy report.

What is Ocean Conservancy Report?

• It is an international NGO that strives to keep the oceans clean. Founded in 1972.
• Their first initiative was the Whale Protection Fund, which focused on saving whales and protesting commercial whaling by Russia and Japan.
• Ocean Conservancy seeks solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it.

Bangkok Declaration 2019:

• ASEAN leaders are expected to sign the declararion on fighting the marine waste – to prevent and significantly reduce marine debris.
• The agreement does not impose penalities on countries or companies which fail to specify measures to tackle the problem.
• It does not mention anything on single use plastics which are more harmful for the nature.

What are single Use Plastics?

• Single-use plastics, often also referred to as disposable plastics, are commonly used for plastic packaging7 and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.
• These include, among other items, grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery.

Other issue with Plastic Waste:

These Southeast Asian nations are the world’s top importers of trash from developed countries like the U.S and Canada.

These wastes often end up in landfills and waterways without being properly processed.