ENVIRONMENT: 11 tons of waste pollute Panama’s coastline hourly
At least 11 tons of waste end up on Panama’ coasts and seas every hour reports the Ministry of the Environment in presenting A National Action Plan for Marine Litter 2021-2026 .
Some 61,553 tons per year come from human activities in urban areas and 40,675 tons per year from human activities in rural areas. Marine litter in Panama comes in a wide variety of types, shapes and sizes, from microplastics to large ships abandoned on the coast.
The 5-year plan aims to be a guide to reduce and eliminate marine litter that threatens biodiversity.
That means developing an annual coastal clean-up strategy; strengthening waste management programs developed by NGOs and educational content in schools; involving private companies, and creating incentives.
In addition, laws would be established to strengthen the system of fines and sanctions.
Osvaldo Jordán, director of the Ramsar Regional Center for the Western Hemisphere, said this is one of the greatest challenges the country has in environmental conservation and emphasis should be placed on creating the circular economy.
"We must go beyond the recycling that is currently practiced in some areas, and reduce plastics and other materials that pollute the environment.”
Comments 13
The garbage in Panama is so sad. It is caused by lack of education in this area and the reasons why we need to recycle. With others, it is intellectual laziness to personally take care of your own garbage in a healthy way. When you take care of your own garbage it helps the country you love. Don't tell me you love your country and then throw garbage out your car window. Let's do a better job.
A lot of mention about mercury from pollution but i bet half you people line up to get a flu shot every year. Yup you guessed it, its full of mercury and aluminum . So chow down on that seafood if your not getting your flu shot
The pollution here has left toxic levels of mercury in the seafood. This is a major contributor to the low IQ scores seen here in Panama. Do yourself a favor and skip the seafood here it's poison.
There's a pandemic raging who cares how much trash is on the beach. This whole country is pocked with trash and litter so this isn't news. Filthiest country and the residents made it this way.
The number of plastic bags on the beaches has plumneted since the ban on nonbiodegrable plastic bags in stores. Styrofoam containers should be next.
The number of plastic bags on the beaches has plumneted since the ban on nonbiodegrable pladtic bags in stores. Styrofoam containers should be next.
I wonder if they use the above photo in the tourism Panama ads? Come to Panama and enjoy the beach.
Glass is the main threat on the beaches here. I needed 13 stiches from a laceration of a glass bottle. Glass never goes away it's always here. The constantly shifting sands means that no glass today means glass tomorrow. The local Seco and other booze comes in clear bottles and the locals leave the glass on the beaches daily. My vecino showed me his aunts foot who was missing 2 toes from a cut on the beach that got infected and required amputation. Never go barefoot but even that is no guarantee. I was wearing sandals when the bottle sliced through and got my foot. The plastic and other filth is unsightly but the glass is the real threat.
The math in this article does not add up.. 11 tons per hour x 24 hours per day x 365 days per year equals 96,360 tons per year... 61,553 tons from urban sources plus 40,675 tons from our rural neighborhoods equal ... 102,228 so which is it? My little hand held calculator gave me those figures....I could loan it...
So glad to hear this enormous problem is being studied and considered. A circular economy of all products being accounted for from cradle to cradle, is necessary. Making anything like nuclear waste, mercury-containing compact florescent lite bulbs, or plastics, without the means of decomposing or recycling them, is an act of self annihilation. Not mentioned here but worth considering, is the fact that the same polluted ocean coughing up the garbage pictured above, is the source of Panama's SALT industry. The laws regarding added iodine make the locally produced salt the only salt available in quantities greater than 1#. This salt is full of plastic particles which is bad enough, but also not addressed here is the amount of human sewage and all other garbage Panama dumps into the ocean every day. The local salt is not a product to be trusted.
11 tons an hour of waste on the beach? What an underestimate! Typical Panama trying to put a positive spin on things.
sounds like a wonderful place to make a fake beach for the people of Panama City to enjoy at a cost of 100 million don't it !!!!!
Thank you for reporting this. Panama is so beautiful . Clean Panama