A national symposium on the stakes involved in combating plastic pollution in Tunisia and the prospects for recycling will be held on Tuesday June 13, 2023, at the headquarters of the Arab Institute of Business Leaders (IACE). The symposium is organised at the initiative of the Tunisian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Embassy in Tunisia and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) North Africa Office, in partnership with the Environment Ministry. "The aim is to contribute to the national effort to reduce plastic pollution", says the WWF in a press release. Tunisia generates more than 2.5 million tonnes of waste a year. Plastic waste accounts for around 10% of this total, according to the Ministry of the Environment. Five hundred thousand tonnes of plastic waste end up in the sea every year, causing serious environmental damage to marine ecosystems and harming human health. According to the WWF, Tunisia is the 13th largest producer of plastic products in the Mediterranean area. Nearly a billion plastic bags are consumed there every year, 80% of which are neither collected nor recycled. The fund estimates that plastic pollution will generate losses of around 60 million dinars a year to the national economy, due to the expected repercussions on several sectors, including tourism and fishing.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse