Ban on plastic bags for retail purposes a welcomed move, but execution is key

Plastic production has skyrocketed in the last two decades, and plastic pollution is suffocating our planet. Photo by Mohamed Abdulraheew/WWF

PLASTIC pollution is suffocating our planet — and it’s only getting worse. Production has rocketed in the last two decades, with more plastic being produced between 2003 and 2016 than in the whole of the 20th century.

While plastic is cheap and versatile, with countless uses across many industries, almost half of all plastic is used to create short-lived or single-use products that can spend hundreds of years degrading. Globally, less than 10% of plastic products are recycled.