ULAN BATOR, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia will again participate in this year's Earth Hour campaign under the theme of reducing plastic use, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Mongolia said Wednesday.
"Plastic waste is one of the most pressing environmental concerns facing the world. So, the country will join the upcoming annual campaign with activities raising public awareness on consequences of plastic waste," Nyamsuren Enkhbayar, spokesperson of the WWF-Mongolia, told Xinhua.
Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the WWF since 2007 and will see millions of people across the world switching off their lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on a specific day towards the end of March to help fight climate change.
Earth Hour 2019 is scheduled for March 30, and Mongolia has participated in the annual campaign since the year of 2010.
Buildings surrounding central squares of the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator and several provinces such as Khovd, Uvs, Bayan-Ulgii, Dornod and Khentii will be in darkness for an hour, Enkhbayar said, urging people to switch off their lights too.
The Asian country has been focusing on reducing plastic use in recent years. It has announced to ban the use, sale, import and production of single-use plastic bags thinner than 0.035 mm across the country, which came into force on March 1.
It is estimated that more than 2 million tons of waste, including 500,000 tons of plastic waste, are produced in the country each year.
Out of the plastic waste, just less than 10 percent is recycled, according to the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
