A shift in drinking habits away from bottled water would also lead to a big drop in plastics waste, as an estimated 85 percent of bottles end up in landfills, the report says
Some 600 billion plastic bottles are produced each year, amounting to approximately 25 million tonnes of plastic waste.
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Half of the money spent globally on bottled water—sales of which have exploded in recent decades—would be enough to provide universal access to clean drinking water from taps, according to a UN study released Thursday.
A shift in drinking habits away from bottled water would also lead to a big drop in plastics waste, as an estimated 85 percent of bottles end up in landfills, the report says.
However, the study's Canada-based authors flag that a misconception around the safety of both tap and bottled water plays a major role in individuals' preferences.