Call for immediate global crackdown on single-use plastic bottles, urgent action needed says water tech leader Bluewater as World Water Week starts in Stockholm

Stockholm, Sweden, August 26, 2019 – As thousands of water activists, decision-makers and business leaders gather in Stockholm for World Water Week, world-leading water technologies and solutions leader Bluewater today called for an immediate global crackdown on single-use plastic bottles.

"The world's oceans have been used as a dumping ground for plastic waste for the past six decades. The result is that micro-plastics are now found in the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe, which imperils the health of the planet and humanity," said Bluewater founder and CEO Bengt Rittri, a Swedish environmental entrepreneur.

Mr. Rittri said the time has come for a global ban on one of the key culprits behind microplastic pollution, single-use plastic bottles, which are produced at a rate of over one million a minute with over 70 percent ending up as trash in landfill and oceans.

A WHO study last week said microplastics have been found in almost every planetary source of water on the planet, from rivers and lakes, the ocean, wastewater, and drinking water. The organization also said more information was needed about the health impact of microplastics on the environment and human health as the data is 'extremely limited'.

In a joint White Paper published earlier this year together with Portugal's Mirpuri Foundation, Bluewater spotlighted the profound impact plastics are having on the health and wellbeing of the planet and humans.

Entitled 'The Global Plastic Calamity', the publication details how the unmitigated pollution of the planet's oceans, land, and air by throwaway plastic is releasing thousands of hormone-disrupting chemicals that are believed to be behind a worrying rise in multiple illnesses. The publication said there is substantial scientific evidence that so-called endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDC's, now commonplace in the natural environment as a result of plastic pollution, are blocking the natural function of hormones.

"The unfettered use of plastics is messing with human health. It has put the planet on what the UN calls 'the edge of calamity' with research indicating that plastic-related chemicals may be behind rising levels of abnormal development and illnesses over the past five decades. These range from stunted fertility and male/female sex malformations to obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and cognitive, behavioral and other brain-related problems," said Mr. Rittri.

Mr. Rittri founded Bluewater in 2013 with the mission to deliver pure water to everyone in a sustainable way that ended the need for single-use plastic bottles and their polluting transportation over long distances. In his call for action, Bengt Rittri added: "There are multiple alternatives available for consumers and businesses alike to avoid the need for single-use plastic bottles. For the sake of future generations, we urgently need to crack down on single-use plastics from packaging to bottles or face the worst of outcomes for future generations."

Background

Hormones control every function in our body. This includes blood pressure, heartbeat, blood sugar, fertility, immune function, mood and emotions, quality of sleep, body water content, for example (Source:https://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health/hormones)

There are more than 85,000 manufactured chemicals, of which thousands may be EDCs found in plastics and other consumer products. Another group of chemicals linked to hormone disruption, phthalates, are found in personal care products such as cosmetics, children's products, food packaging and medical tubing. (Source: Endocrine Society. "Chemical exposure linked to lower vitamin D levels." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 September 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160920130828.htm&gt;.)

For more information, please contact David Noble, Bluewater PR and Communications Director at david.noble@bluewatergroup.com or +44 7785 302 694