The explosion of plastic waste across the globe is threatening the very survival of life on the planet. Never has the world been more plagued by our plastic problem and with up to 12 million metric tons of the stuff entering our oceans, the problem is more dire than ever. But awareness is on the rise and experts report that surveys reveal a sense of true determination throughout the world to solve the issue. This episode looks at some of the solutions to ridding the world of our most pressing waste.
In Cameroon, we visit a local young businessman named Ismael Essoume, who is cleaning up the country from plastic waste by picking up bottles that litter the natural environment and turning them into eco-boats. To date, he’s built 37 boats which has removed over 24,000 boats from the capital, Douala’s rivers. He’s also created Cameroon’s first recycling scheme by establishing Ecobins – where locals can discard their plastic bottles. His initiative is not only raising awareness, it’s changing the way Cameroonians approach waste. We then head to England where we look at one of the world's stickiest problems - chewing gum. The UK has a particularly bad problem with this particular plastic pollutant.
But now a new invention could spell the end of scourge. Enviro-entrepreneur Anna Bullus has put in place a network of pink gum-bins, themselves made of recycled gum.
As consumers discard their gum, the bins and their contents are sent off to be processed and recycled into a range of stylish products from shoes to coffee cups. The invention is keeping streets gum free and paving the way for new type of recycling.
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