UN urges more efforts to cut pollution

OSLO - Less than a 10th of all the plastic ever made has been recycled, and governments should consider banning or taxing single-use bags or food containers to stem a tide of pollution, a United Nations report said on Tuesday - UN World Environment Day.

The study, billed as the most comprehensive review of government action to curb single-use plastics, said up to 5 trillion plastic bags were used worldwide each year. Spread out side-by-side, they would cover an area twice the size of France.

"The scourge of plastic has reached every corner of the Earth," Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment, wrote in the report, compiled with the Indian government and launched along with a slogan: "If you can't reuse it, refuse it".