Plastics only started to be made in large quantities after World War 2, but since then, the pollution from all the plastic we manufacture and use has become one of the most serious threats humanity faces. According to the IUCN, by 2015, 60% of all plastic ever produced had become plastic waste, and is practically everywhere - it’s in the air, in the soil, in freshwater, and in the sea. In 2019, only 9% of plastic waste was recycled globally, while 22% was mismanaged - the UN calls in a planetary crisis. In Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia estimates that the total annual post-consumer plastic waste generated here in 2016 was over one million tonnes, which could fill 76,000 rubbish trucks. With such a seemingly monumental crisis facing us, what must we do to stem the plastic pollution tide? We discuss what the sustainable production and consumption of plastics must be like with Tahirah Banu Mohamed Ariff, the Plastic Initiative Manager at WWF-Malaysia.

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