Plastic pollution

 

 

The river became a garbage dump in a few decades: “Disgusting”

A generation ago, the Río Las Vacas was full of fish. Now it is unlikely that there is room for any life among all the debris. The Guatemalan waterway is the world’s most plastic-polluted river and is now completely choked with all the waste from the capital Guatemala City, writes The Telegraph in a long report.

“This has always been a beautiful place – but look at it now,” says 19-year-old Madeline Vasquez, who lives along the river.

“It is disgusting just to look at it.”

The Las Vacas is a tributary of the larger Motagua River, which carries a staggering 20,000 tons of plastic out to the Caribbean Sea every year.

Global plastic waste has increased sevenfold since 1985 and more than doubled since 2000. By 2050, it is expected to have doubled again if nothing is done. In August, a summit will be held in Geneva on plastic pollution. Activists hope for strong action to limit its use.

Boyan Slat cleans the oceans – hopes to go bankrupt soon

The mountains of plastic in the Río Las Vacas river in Guatemala became a suitable project for Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat and his company Ocean Cleanup. For three years, truck after truck has been filled with garbage.

“Rivers are the arteries that transport plastic to the ocean. Our data showed that rivers are the point where we have the greatest opportunity to influence,” says Slat.

The 30-year-old came up with the idea for the company while snorkeling at the age of 15. Today, the company is a world leader in cleaning the world’s oceans, writes The Telegraph.

The company’s somewhat unusual goal is to go bankrupt by 2040. By then, it hopes that 90 percent of the world’s oceans will be empty of plastic.

At the same time, Boyan Slat notes that plastic capture is not a long-term solution, but that the world's countries must manage their waste as well as their plastic use.