World Environment Day
The 2023 theme is intended to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution, not only on the environment, but on all of society and human and animal health, and the possible dangers posed by micro-plastics.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), every minute the equivalent of one truckload of plastic waste is dumped into water bodies.
The problem of plastic pollution gets worse every day, approximately 7 billion of the 9.2 billion tons of plastic produced between 1950 and 2017 became waste that ended up in landfills or dumps.
Data from the Plastic Waste Index, compiled by the Minderoo Foundation, concludes that while sustainability actions have been on the agenda in many media, recycling is not increasing fast enough to meet the need on the amount of plastic produced, resulting in a greater likelihood of these used products being discarded into the environment, especially into water bodies, than going to recycling.
The improper disposal of this waste, without proper disposal, recycling or reuse, can cause pollution and contamination of soil and water, damaging the entire life cycle present in the local ecosystem and also the use of these natural resources.
According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), society produces about 460 million tons of plastic per year and without urgent measures, this number will triple by 2060. This problem has been getting worse for decades and as a form of prevention, awareness, and regulation, during the Stockholm Conference, held in 1972, the UN General Assembly created the World Environment Day in honor of the opening day of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.
One of its main achievements was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the main global authority that sets the environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the UN System, and serves as the authority for environmental advocacy around the world.
Since the creation of World Environment Day, UNEP sets a theme and a host country where the celebrations will be held.
In 2023, the host country is the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, also known as the Republic of Ivory Coast, in partnership with the Netherlands with the theme "Solutions to Plastic Pollution". The choice of the Republic of Ivory Coast is aligned with the actions that the country has been taking to combat plastic pollution. In 2014 the country banned the use of plastic bags and supports the change to reusable packaging, in addition to having in its largest city, Adidjan, a center for startups and greentechs that seek to overcome plastic pollution.
The pollution caused by improper disposal of plastics has a significant impact on fauna, flora and water, interfering with life cycles, development and quality of water resources. This highlights the importance of monitoring, as each type of use requires a specific level of quality and physical-chemical parameters. Ensuring that after being used in an industrial process, the water is treated so that it is returned to the environment in a way that does not present risks or minimizes impacts.
Ensuring the conservation and finding viable ways to reuse natural resources is fundamental to the preservation of the environment. In this sense, Digimed stands out as a pioneer in the development of solutions and search for resources that can contribute to initiatives in favor of sustainable growth.
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