TEHRAN - The national environment week started on Tuesday under the theme of “a national campaign for reducing plastic pollution.”

During the week, 11 plans costing 500 billion rials (about $1 million) are scheduled to be inaugurated by the national fund for the environment, IRNA reported.

Moreover, some 300 educational, cultural, and scientific programs are to be implemented across the country.

The first day of the environment week (June 6) is named after global-regional diplomacy, climate change and water management, and implementation of dust reduction strategies.

Other days of the week have been named as follows:

June 7: Biodiversity and protection of endangered plant and animal species with the participation of local communities,

June 8: Environment, environmentalists, promoting the culture of sacrifice and martyrdom,

June 9: Environment, media, religious teachings, social responsibility,

June 10: Environment, green industry, waste, and knowledge-based sustainable development,

June 11: Environment, sea-based economy, wetlands tourism, employment, facilitating processes, and production growth,

June 12: Environment, new technologies, fertilizers, and voluntary partnerships

Strengthening knowledge and raising awareness and giving hope to the people through the national media and other mass communication media, exploiting the capacity and social influence of artists, athletes, and elites in the direction of creating a culture of environmental protection, and laying the groundwork for the maximum participation of non-governmental organizations in holding weekly programs Environment through environment houses are among the objectives of the national environment week.

Appreciating voluntary actions in the field of wildlife, collection of waste from wildlife habitats by local communities, promotion of the culture on protecting animal species, support of new environmentally friendly technologies with the approach of supporting the purchase of goods made in Iran, holding educational workshops for different classes of people and performing waste clean-up ceremonies in environmental areas at the entry points of cities in view of the beginning of summer holidays are among the approaches and implementation policies of this year's environment week.

Led by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and held annually on June 5 since 1973, World Environment Day is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach and is celebrated by millions of people across the world.

More than 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 percent is recycled.

An estimated 19-23 million tons end up in lakes, rivers, and seas annually. That is approximately the weight of 2,200 Eiffel Towers altogether.

Microplastics – tiny plastic particles up to 5mm in diameter – find their way into food, water, and air. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year –and many more if inhalation is considered.

Discarded or burnt single-use plastic harms human health and biodiversity and pollutes every ecosystem from mountain tops to the ocean floor.

With available science and solutions to tackle the problem, governments, companies, and other stakeholders must scale up and speed up actions to solve this crisis.

This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day in mobilizing transformative action from every corner of the world.

About 185,000 tons of plastic are produced annually in the country, which cannot be returned to nature, so we must be very active in the field of collecting plastic waste and recycling them so that it can be used in other products by turning into raw materials of industries, Mehdi Khadem-Sameni, an official with the Department of Environment, has said.

The executive regulation on reducing the consumption of plastic bags was prepared and submitted to the cabinet of ministers and was approved in October 2022 in coordination with other agencies such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Education, and the National Standards Organization, he explained.

The regulation was drafted in 10 articles, he said, adding that the Ministry of Industry is obliged to develop a five-year plan to annually produce 20 percent of the production capacity of thin plastic bags with a thickness of less than 25 microns, replacing them with biodegradable or environmentally friendly bags.

“The Ministry of Industry in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior will prepare a guideline to reduce waste production and limit the production, distribution, and consumption of plastic bags.”

On November 17, 2015, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, announced the general policies on the environment, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, harmonious, and organized management of vital resources based on ecological capability and sustainability, particularly by increasing capacities and appropriate legal and structural capabilities accompanied by public participation.

President Ebrahim Raisi has highlighted the importance of environmental protection, emphasizing that the preservation of the environment is prior to every development.

Environmental protection will lead to power, security, investment, and production growth in the country, he said.

Both people and NGOs have an effective role to play in the protection of the environment, and they should be given a chance to play their role, he added.

MG