TEHRAN – Describing the high rate of plastic consumption in the country as “worrisome”, the distinguished environmentalist Mohammad Darvish has called for introducing more effective measures in this regard.

Around half a million tons of plastic is consumed in Iran annually and the country ranks fifth globally, ISNA quoted him as saying on Thursday.

Plastic consumption is partly inevitable but its increasing trend arouses worry, he added.

In some countries, supermarkets put an extra charge for plastic bags and this encourages people to bring and use cloth bags, however, this is not the case in Iran, he regretted.

It is necessary to use the experiences of other countries to impede this trend, he emphasized, criticizing the low price of plastics in the country while referring to it as one of the main reasons behind the high consumption rate.

Darvish, the board member at Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, went on to say that two fundamental measure can be taken for cutting down plastic consumption. First, people and industries should be encouraged to consume and produce less plastic through actions such as offering tax incentives and second, the administration should support investing in production of recyclable plastics, he noted.

According to TheWorldCounts, 160,000 plastic bags are consumed every second.  Totally counting to 5 trillion bags every year, they can cover an area twice the size of France.

The most common form of using plastic is bags and bottles, both of which imposing serious dangers to environment as well as humans. Recognizing its threats, some countries are implementing comprehensive plans to control plastic consumption.

MAH/MG