Water, Sewage & Effluent September October 2018 | Page 3

disposable nappies on the environment and
on landfills specifically, which was adroitly
fended off by the presenter with “We are
investigating re-usable disposable diapers.”
Why not just ban them entirely and use
cloth ones? Surely that would be a sign of a
commitment to sustainability and influence
a mindset alteration?
Throughout the event, there was urgency
in changing mindsets around water usage,
educating people, and implementing
regulations around water treatment and
its usage, with several examples of change
cited, such as Lake Kallavesi in the Finnish
Lake District — which is called a ‘Living
Laboratory’ for the Microplastic Pollution
Research in Freshwater Lakes.
Even the pristine Nordic countries are
suffering under the scourge of plastic
pollution, in the form of micro plastics,
on an enormous scale. According to Arto
Koistinen, University of Eastern Finland,
“Micro plastics are found in all bodies
of water, including the oceans, rivers,
and freshwater lakes of the world.” Even
industrial waste and wastewater treatment
plants are showing pollution from this
source.
A sobering thought.
As the mayor of Stockholm, Karin
Wanngård, said at the World Water Week:
“We hold the future of the biosphere in
our hands,” and added this around water
management: “Anyone with knowledge has
an obligation to act.”
So, ask yourself the part you are playing
in being a responsible water citizen.
Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2018
1
H
aving recently attended the annual
World Water Week in Stockholm, I
came away with the knowledge that
there are a multitude of organisations,
companies, individuals, and governments
who are taking the global water problem
seriously, which heartened my somewhat
jaded view on the water sector.
Attending numerous of the 300-odd
sessions available during the week, topics
such as the impact of microbeads on the
environment and on human and animal
health, really struck a chord and inspired
me to write the article on the “Planet’s
Plastic Plight”. (Read on page 22.)
We are not only ruining the planet for the
generations to come, we appear to not even
realise it or care that we are — which makes
it worse.
In an event that Procter & Gamble
gave, which outlined priority regions for
attention around waste, it was with pride
that they outlined their product range.
Nestled there in the line-up, is disposable
nappies.
Did you know that presently, 18-billion
— let that figure sink in — 18 billion
disposable diapers are used in the US alone
each year?
Back in 1998, the Environmental
Protection Agency stated that 3.4-million
tons of waste (or 2.1%) of US non-
biodegradable garbage in landfills, was
disposable nappies.
By 2016, that has risen to 3.5-billion tons
in the US. That is 3.5-billion tons of non-
biodegradable waste, equating to 30% of
the total.
I was interested to hear a fellow South
African at the talk raise the impact of
technology
Microplastics are the result of when bigger pieces of plastic break down. They are not biodegradable and are
causing untold damage to the environment and all who live on the planet.
Water’s dire straits