The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) presented a guide on the 10 worst plastics for the environment in Mexico as part of the 'Plastic Pact'. This initiative, coordinated with the circular economy organization WRAP, aims to reduce plastic pollution in the country.
The Plastic Pact of Mexico is a national effort that brings together the private sector, academia, government, and civil society in the task of transitioning to a circular economy and decreasing plastic pollution.
Carolina Fernández, the international partnerships manager of WRAP, highlighted that Mexico is the second country in Latin America and the eleventh in the world to have a list of problematic and avoidable plastics.
The list of the 10 worst plastics in Mexico was developed in collaboration with local companies, focusing on products with a high likelihood of escaping into the environment, hazardous content for human health, and difficulty in recycling. This includes colored bottles, microplastics in cosmetics, single-use plastic bags, and polystyrene containers.
The Plastic Pact Mexico proposes specific strategies to address each type of plastic, such as substitution with more sustainable materials, reuse, redesign, improvements in recycling processes, and the implementation of policies to support environmentally friendly solutions.
Ninel Escobar, director of climate change at WWF Mexico, emphasized the importance of this list in prioritizing efforts to reduce plastic pollution in the country. It is estimated that between 2 and 3.6 million tons of plastic waste leak into the environment annually in Mexico, contaminating rivers and oceans, constituting between 60% and 90% of the trash on Mexican beaches.
