KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) launched on Monday an awareness campaign on the rising threats of plastic.
Under the slogan "my day without plastic," the campaign aims to raise the awareness about the danger of plastic pollution and to educate people on methodologies of the utilization of plastic and recycling.
At the opening ceremony of the campaign at the KISR headquarters in Shuwaikh, Samira Omar, director general of KISR, said that the amount of plastic waste in Kuwait is estimated at 18 percent of the total solid waste, which is about 200,000 tons per year.
"These challenges require finding effective and safe solutions led by recycling waste in a carefully planned manner, to accommodate millions of tons without harm humans and the environment," she said.
Omar pointed out that the campaign aims to make a difference in the lives of Kuwaiti residents to deal with plastic waste, adding that the campaign will show the impact of the waste on the environment and human health.
"We also need to pay attention to the need to develop plans and strategies for the process of recycling waste," she noted.
For his part, Mohammed Al-Rashed, acting executive director of the Environment and Life Sciences Research Center of KISR, said that the one-use plastics constitute more than 80 percent of the waste on the shores of Kuwait which threaten the lives of thousands of marine organisms annually.
Hilal Al-Sayer, chairman of Kuwait Red Crescent Society, said that the campaign represents an opportunity to enhance responsible behavior of individuals, communities and companies to preserve the environment from the danger of plastic pollution.
