World Environment Day is the UN’s flagship day for promoting awareness and action for the environment. It is a rallying call to action for individuals, for organisations and for the wider community to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on our natural environment, wildlife and our own health.
According to UN statistics, 500 billion plastic bags are used each year and 90% of bottled water is found to contain plastic particles. Worryingly, global plastic production is projected to nearly double over the next 10-15 years. While plastic bag bans in close to 100 countries are having a big impact, more needs to be done at the design stage to reduce global reliance on plastics.
ISO 14001:2015, the International Standard for Environmental Management Systems supports this through the Life Cycle Perspective. This requirement leads organisations to consider how their products and services impact the environment from planning, sourcing and the use of raw materials through to what happens to products at the end of their useful life. Reducing or eliminating plastic usage is a clear opportunity for many organisations to prevent pollution and reduce their environmental impact.
LRQA colleagues around the world are holding events and taking the plastic pledge to reduce our use of single-use plastics. What steps will you take today to reduce your individual use of plastic? What can you do as an organisation? Let us know your plastic pledge using the hashtag #BeatPlasticPollution.
Find out more and get involved at http://www.worldenvironmentday.global
#WorldEnvironmentDay
@unenvironment
