In 1972, the UN General Assembly designated 5th June as World Environment Day (WED). The first celebration, under the slogan “Only One Earth” took place in 1973.
In the following years, WED has developed as a platform to raise awareness on the problems facing our environment such as air pollution, plastic pollution, illegal wildlife trade, sustainable consumption, sea-level increase, and food security, among others. Furthermore, WED helps drive change in consumption patterns and in national and international environmental policy.
The theme for this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, focuses on solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled. An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas. Today, plastic clogs our landfills, leaches into the ocean and is combusted into toxic smoke, making it one of the gravest threats to the planet.
Not only that, what is less known is that microplastics find their way into the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. By some estimates, people consume more than 50,000 plastic particles per year – and many more if inhalation is considered. Many plastic products contain hazardous additives, which may pose a threat to our health.
Cortech are passionate about reducing their impact on the environment, dramatically cutting their carbon footprint and are determined to demonstrate environmental leadership and influence the market by tackling climate change.
Some of the ways in which Cortech have committed to reducing their impact on the environment include:
Not only that but they have made a pledge to become a plastic free business champion by removing or replacing single-use plastic items with sustainable alternatives. As part of this pledge employees have been asked think and choose sustainable eco-friendly substitutes to single plastic use so we can contribute to saving our environment!
