NAIROBI, Kenya – Ahead of this year’s World Environment Day, it is now emerging that much of the planet is swimming in discarded plastic, which is harming animal and possibly human health.
World Environment Day 2025 will be observed on Thursday, June 5, under the national theme “Repurpose Plastic Use” with the slogan Rethink Plastic Pollution, ACT Now.
Back at home, the County Government of Vihiga will be hosting the event at Walodeya Primary School in Chavakali ward, Sabatia Sub-County.
This is even as environmentalists call for more efforts to change the way we produce, use, and dispose of plastics.
Against this backdrop, the question on many people’s lips is whether plastic pollution can be cleaned up.
Y News understands that the production of disposable plastic products has increased dramatically, making plastic pollution one of the most urgent environmental problems.
In developing Asian and African countries, where waste collection systems are frequently ineffective or nonexistent, plastic pollution is most noticeable. However, the industrialised world also has challenges in appropriately collecting unwanted plastics, particularly in nations with poor recycling rates.
Plastic waste has become so widespread that it has sparked efforts to establish a global treaty mediated by the United Nations.
Why was plastic invented
Fossil fuel-derived plastics have been around for a little more than a century. In 1907, Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist, produced the first completely synthetic plastic. Following World War II, which drastically altered the modern era, the production and creation of thousands of new plastic goods increased to the point that life would be completely different today without plastics. Inventors discovered a lightweight, strong substance in plastic that has applications in everything from medicine to transportation.
Plastics saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water; they made space flight possible; they lightened vehicles and aircraft, reducing fuel and pollution; and they revolutionised medicine with life-saving technologies.
However, the conveniences that plastics provide have resulted in a throwaway culture that exposes the negative aspects of the material: 40% of plastic produced annually is now single-use. While many of these goods, like food wrappers and plastic bags, only last a few minutes to a few hours, they can linger in the environment for hundreds of years.
That’s why some governments have taken steps to limit or ban the use of plastic bags. Most recently, California passed legislation to ban all plastic bags by 2026.
Plastics by the numbers
Here are a few key facts:
Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 20 years. Production increased exponentially, from 2.3 million metric tonnes in 1950 to 448 million metric tonnes by 2015. Production is expected to double by 2050.
Every year, about eight million tonnes of plastic waste escape into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
Plastics often contain additives, making them stronger, more flexible, and more durable. But many of these additives can extend the life of plastic products if they become litter, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years before breaking down.
How plastic pollution spreads around the world
Earth’s last sink, the oceans, receive the majority of the plastic pollution that comes from the land. Major rivers, which serve as conveyor belts and gather more and more waste as they flow downstream, also transport trash to the ocean.
Most of the plastic debris ends up in coastal waters once it has reached the ocean. However, marine plastic pollution can spread globally once it gets entangled in ocean currents.
Halfway between Chile and New Zealand, Henderson Island is an uninhabited island in the remote Pitcairn Group. Plastic pollution is carried there by the South Pacific gyre, a circular ocean current. Plastic products from China, Japan, South America, Europe, Russia, and the US have been discovered there by experts.
How microplastics affect our health
Once in the ocean, sunlight, wind, and wave action break down marine plastic pollution into small particles, often less than one-fifth of an inch across.
From the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, to the deepest trough, the Mariana Trench, these so-called microplastics have been discovered everywhere in the world. They spread throughout the water column.
Microplastics are disintegrating into ever-tinier fragments. In the meantime, plastic microfibres have been discovered floating in the air and municipal drinking water systems.
It’s no surprise that scientists have detected microplastics in people. The microscopic particles exist in our blood, lungs, and even in faeces. Scientists are working desperately to determine the precise extent to which microplastics may be detrimental to human health.
How plastic pollution harms wildlife
Annually, plastics kill millions of animals, including fish, birds, and other marine life. Plastics have impacted about 2,100 species, including endangered ones. Almost all seabird species consume plastic.
The majority of animal deaths are caused either by entanglement or malnutrition. Seals, whales, turtles, and other creatures are strangled by abandoned fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings. More than 100 aquatic species, including fish, prawns and mussels meant for our dinner plates, have been confirmed to have microplastics.
These microscopic fragments frequently pass through the digestive tract and are eliminated with no repercussions. However, it has also been discovered that plastics can penetrate organs or obstruct digestive tracts, which can be fatal. Plastic-filled stomachs suppress appetite, leading to famine.
Land animals such as tigers, camels, cattle, zebras, hyenas, elephants, and other huge mammals have eaten plastics, sometimes to their demise.
Tests have also shown that certain species, including oysters, have reduced egg production as a result of reproductive system disturbances and liver and cell damage. There are fresh concerns regarding the impact of plastics on fish populations after it was discovered that fish larvae are consuming nanofibers during their first few days of life.
Stopping plastic pollution
Plastic garbage is hard, if not impossible, to recover once it is in the water. Large plastic items like foam cups and food containers can be successfully removed from inland waters by mechanical systems like Trash Wheel, a litter interceptor in Baltimore Harbour, Maryland.
However, it is nearly impossible to retrieve plastics once they decompose into microplastics and float through the open ocean’s water column.
Many scientists and conservationists believe that preventing plastics from ever entering rivers through better waste management and recycling systems, better product design, and a decrease in the production of single-use plastics is the best method to limit plastic pollution.
World Environment Day 2025: All You Need to Know About Global Plastic Pollution
NAIROBI, Kenya – Ahead of this year’s World Environment Day, it is now emerging that much of the planet is swimming in discarded plastic, which is harming animal and possibly human health.
World Environment Day 2025 will be observed on Thursday, June 5, under the national theme “Repurpose Plastic Use” with the slogan Rethink Plastic Pollution, ACT Now.
Back at home, the County Government of Vihiga will be hosting the event at Walodeya Primary School in Chavakali ward, Sabatia Sub-County.
This is even as environmentalists call for more efforts to change the way we produce, use, and dispose of plastics.
Against this backdrop, the question on many people’s lips is whether plastic pollution can be cleaned up.
Y News understands that the production of disposable plastic products has increased dramatically, making plastic pollution one of the most urgent environmental problems.
In developing Asian and African countries, where waste collection systems are frequently ineffective or nonexistent, plastic pollution is most noticeable. However, the industrialised world also has challenges in appropriately collecting unwanted plastics, particularly in nations with poor recycling rates.
Plastic waste has become so widespread that it has sparked efforts to establish a global treaty mediated by the United Nations.
Why was plastic invented
Fossil fuel-derived plastics have been around for a little more than a century. In 1907, Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist, produced the first completely synthetic plastic. Following World War II, which drastically altered the modern era, the production and creation of thousands of new plastic goods increased to the point that life would be completely different today without plastics. Inventors discovered a lightweight, strong substance in plastic that has applications in everything from medicine to transportation.
Plastics saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water; they made space flight possible; they lightened vehicles and aircraft, reducing fuel and pollution; and they revolutionised medicine with life-saving technologies.
However, the conveniences that plastics provide have resulted in a throwaway culture that exposes the negative aspects of the material: 40% of plastic produced annually is now single-use. While many of these goods, like food wrappers and plastic bags, only last a few minutes to a few hours, they can linger in the environment for hundreds of years.
That’s why some governments have taken steps to limit or ban the use of plastic bags. Most recently, California passed legislation to ban all plastic bags by 2026.
Plastics by the numbers
Here are a few key facts:
Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 20 years. Production increased exponentially, from 2.3 million metric tonnes in 1950 to 448 million metric tonnes by 2015. Production is expected to double by 2050.
Every year, about eight million tonnes of plastic waste escape into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
Plastics often contain additives, making them stronger, more flexible, and more durable. But many of these additives can extend the life of plastic products if they become litter, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years before breaking down.
How plastic pollution spreads around the world
Earth’s last sink, the oceans, receive the majority of the plastic pollution that comes from the land. Major rivers, which serve as conveyor belts and gather more and more waste as they flow downstream, also transport trash to the ocean.
Most of the plastic debris ends up in coastal waters once it has reached the ocean. However, marine plastic pollution can spread globally once it gets entangled in ocean currents.
Halfway between Chile and New Zealand, Henderson Island is an uninhabited island in the remote Pitcairn Group. Plastic pollution is carried there by the South Pacific gyre, a circular ocean current. Plastic products from China, Japan, South America, Europe, Russia, and the US have been discovered there by experts.
How microplastics affect our health
Once in the ocean, sunlight, wind, and wave action break down marine plastic pollution into small particles, often less than one-fifth of an inch across.
From the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, to the deepest trough, the Mariana Trench, these so-called microplastics have been discovered everywhere in the world. They spread throughout the water column.
Microplastics are disintegrating into ever-tinier fragments. In the meantime, plastic microfibres have been discovered floating in the air and municipal drinking water systems.
It’s no surprise that scientists have detected microplastics in people. The microscopic particles exist in our blood, lungs, and even in faeces. Scientists are working desperately to determine the precise extent to which microplastics may be detrimental to human health.
How plastic pollution harms wildlife
Annually, plastics kill millions of animals, including fish, birds, and other marine life. Plastics have impacted about 2,100 species, including endangered ones. Almost all seabird species consume plastic.
The majority of animal deaths are caused either by entanglement or malnutrition. Seals, whales, turtles, and other creatures are strangled by abandoned fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings. More than 100 aquatic species, including fish, prawns and mussels meant for our dinner plates, have been confirmed to have microplastics.
These microscopic fragments frequently pass through the digestive tract and are eliminated with no repercussions. However, it has also been discovered that plastics can penetrate organs or obstruct digestive tracts, which can be fatal. Plastic-filled stomachs suppress appetite, leading to famine.
Land animals such as tigers, camels, cattle, zebras, hyenas, elephants, and other huge mammals have eaten plastics, sometimes to their demise.
Tests have also shown that certain species, including oysters, have reduced egg production as a result of reproductive system disturbances and liver and cell damage. There are fresh concerns regarding the impact of plastics on fish populations after it was discovered that fish larvae are consuming nanofibers during their first few days of life.
Stopping plastic pollution
Plastic garbage is hard, if not impossible, to recover once it is in the water. Large plastic items like foam cups and food containers can be successfully removed from inland waters by mechanical systems like Trash Wheel, a litter interceptor in Baltimore Harbour, Maryland.
However, it is nearly impossible to retrieve plastics once they decompose into microplastics and float through the open ocean’s water column.
Many scientists and conservationists believe that preventing plastics from ever entering rivers through better waste management and recycling systems, better product design, and a decrease in the production of single-use plastics is the best method to limit plastic pollution.
