How can we battle plastic pollution?
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues (LINK), as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent. But the developed world, especially in countries with low recycling rates (LINK), also has trouble properly collecting discarded plastics. Plastic trash has become so ubiquitous it has prompted efforts to write a global treaty (LINK) negotiated by the United Nations. At the same time in Europe, the Green Deal (LINK), as a package of policy initiatives, is already a fact, providing among other things that 55% of plastic packaging waste should be recycled by 2030. |
Plastic pollution in numbers
Let’s have a look on how the plastic waste problem is translated in numbers:
Source: LINK |
How big a problem is ocean plastic?
From the enormous amount of plastic produced, a big part of it ends up in the ocean every year. More specifically, according to studies, more than 170 trillion plastic particles are floating around in the ocean. Plastic debris is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean, making up 80% of all marine debris found everywhere from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Plastic is found on the shorelines of every continent, most of it found near popular tourist destinations and densely populated areas. The main sources of plastic debris found in the ocean are land-based, like littering, inadequate waste disposal, industrial activities, construction, illegal dumping and fishing industry. |
All of this plastic and microplastic in the ocean has a devastating impact on marine life and ecosystems. The most obvious one being the damage plastic items cause to animals when they come into contact with or ingest them, which include suffocation, infections and internal injuries. More specifically, 17% of the species affected by the presence of plastic in the ocean are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, with the whales being the Largest consumers of plastic waste. A new study has found that whales are consuming millions of particles of plastic every day as they filter feed in the oceans. (LINK) For blue whales – the world’s largest animal – the estimate was about 10 million pieces of plastic per day, which equates to between 230 kg and 4 tons of plastic during the feeding season.
How is the plastic ending up in the ocean?
The majority of plastic pollution in the ocean is caused by littering: we buy or use disposable plastic items (food wrappings, plastic bags, bottles, etc.) and do not dispose of them properly, which causes them to end up in the waterways and eventually in the ocean. Since plastic is affordable, readily available and durable material, it can be found everywhere. Connected to that is the fact that the world’s population is growing and the issue of urbanisation is getting bigger. The more people in the world, the greater the demand for cheap materials and the more plastic we use in abundance. Another factor are the shipping and fishing industries, which are also responsible for contributing towards plastic waste and pollution, particularly in our oceans. Plastic is often washed to shores from ships and nets used for fishing, which are mostly made from plastic. Not only does this plastic pollute the water, but marine animals can become trapped in nets and/or swallow the toxic particles. |
Why has plastic become a global problem?
Since the late 20th century, we have depended on plastic as an affordable, versatile and durable material. However, the majority of plastic materials take centuries to degrade and yet we’re still producing and consuming more of it. That plastic has to go somewhere, and it’s frequently either dumped carelessly on land or in rivers in developing countries, before ending up in the ocean. The fact is that we simply can’t cope with this amount of plastic on our planet — nor the amount that continues to be produced.