Plastic & Ocean
‘Years of Abuse Have Taken a Heavy Toll’
While plastic has many valuable uses, the usage of single-use or disposable plastic — has caused tremendous environmental consequences.
Do you know that, up to one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In total, half of all plastic produced are mainly single-use-plastic, meaning that it will only get used once — and then be thrown away. A tiny percentage of the plastic currently used is actually being recycled, ending up on landfills, land and oceans.
In the European Union, the main applications of plastics include: packaging (39.9%, much of which is single-use), building and construction (19.7%), the automotive industry (8.9%), electrical and electronics (5.8%), agriculture (3.3%) and other applications (22.4%, including consumer and home appliances, furniture, sport, health and safety). Low-density polyethylene (PE-LD), followed by polypropylene (PP) packaging is the most widely used material. Large-scale plastic production started in the early 1950s, when production levels were about two million tonnes per year, and by 2015 the production of plastic reached 322 million tonnes.
How does plastics ends up on our Ocean?
While some is dumped directly into the seas from cargo ships, an estimated 80 percent of marine litter makes its way there gradually from land-based sources―including those far inland―via storm drains, sewers, and other routes.
Plastic waste is now so ubiquitous in the natural environment that scientists have even suggested it could serve as a geological indicator of the Anthropocene era.
So how did we get here?
Types of Plastic Debris
The term marine debris refers to man-made materials that have been discarded or lost into the ocean. The earliest references comes from the 1984 Workshop on the Impacts and Fate of Marine Debris.
There are two major forms of plastic that contribute to plastic pollution: microplastics as well as macro-plastics;
Macroplastic - Pieces larger than 20mm
Macroplastic is clearly visible plastic that can be caught, to say it in an easy way, and will not (with a few exceptions) have a direct impact on the food chain. Fishing nets are the main pollutant with the biggest impact on the native environment and animals.
Microplastic - Between 2mm and 5mm
There are two types of microplastics distinguished, primary and secondary. Primary microplastic is produced industrially in the form of plastic-based granulates or pellets, which can be found as microbeads in cosmetics. Secondary microplastic occurs through chemical and physical aging and degradation processes of macroplastic (e.g., plastic bags, plastic bottles, fishing nets or styrofoam products). As far as can be ascertained today, secondary microplastic is the main source of entry into the environment.
Plastic Decomposition
Plastics are made to last. A closer look to their chemistry chain, they are made up of long chain of molecules (polymer) containing repeated units of carbon atoms (monomer). These polymers has extremely strong carbon-carbon bond with with each other. Because of this molecular stability, plastics do not breakdown into simpler components easily.
Plastics sold commercially are intentionally made to be resistant to chemical decomposition. The chemical bonds that hold the molecules are stronger than nature’s power to take them apart. Micro-organisms in the soil and water are thus unable to attack and breakdown plastic products.However, plastics still do breakdown over a long period of time. The Marine Conservancy has published that the estimated decomposition rates of most plastic debris found on coasts are:
Foamed plastic cups: 50 years
Plastic beverage holder: 400 years
Disposable diapers: 450 year
Plastic bottle: 450
Fishing line: 600 years.
Effects of Plastic on the Ocean
Except of water pollution from chemicals and other pollutants, plastics are one of the biggest man-made pollutants in the marine environment, with an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic waste finding its way into our oceans each year.
The main plastic objects found in the sea are - bottles and cups, plastics found in cigarette filters, straws and other ‘macroplastics.
Diver Rich Horner has captured video of himself swimming through water densely strewn with plastic waste and yellowing food wrappers, with the occasional tropical fish darting around.
The footage was shot at a dive site called Manta Point, a cleaning station for the large rays on the island of Nusa Penida, about 20km from the popular Indonesian holiday island of Bali.
What’s more, the fishing industry contributes by being the most polluting industry in the world, responsible for 1 million tonnes of ocean plastic waste
The largest pieces of marine plastic debris, such as discarded fishing nets and lines, have the worst effects on animals. These derelicts nets, also referred to as ghost nets, snare and drown thousands of larger sea creatures per year, such as seals, sea lions, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugons, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and other creatures. Acting as designed, these nets restrict movement causing starvation, laceration, infection, and, in animals that need to return to the surface to breathe, suffocation.
Plastics in oceans typically degrade within a year, but not entirely. In the process, toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A and polystyrene can leach into the water from some plastics.
One study estimated that there are more than 5 trillion plastic pieces (defined into the four classes of small microplastics, large microplastics, meso- and macroplastics) afloat at sea.
In a other study published by Science, it was estimated that the 10 largest emitters of oceanic plastic pollution worldwide are, from the most to the least, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
About half of all of the plastic waste that ends up in the oceans comes from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
These countries are experiencing rapid economic growth, which is reducing poverty rates and improving the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. But as these economies grow, consumption booms — and so does the use of plastic goods.
Cleaning up the plastic once it is in the oceans is impractical; only a portion of it floats, while most disappears, and presumably what does not wash ashore settles to the bottom.
Animals
The harm caused by plastic pollution is wide ranging. It chokes wildlife above and below the waterline. An estimated one million sea birds and an unknown number of sea turtles die each year as a result of plastic debris clogging their digestive tracts, and marine animals of all sorts can become tangled and incapacitated by discarded fishing lines and plastic bags. Fish and other marine life ingest microplastics which in turn can find their way into the human food chain.
In a 2006 report, Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans, Greenpeace stated that at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris. What's more, it is stated that plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals annually, millions of birds and fishes.
From the whale, sea lions, and birds to the microscopic organisms called zooplankton, plastic has been, and is, greatly affecting marine life, i.e animals on shore and offshore, whether by ingestion or entanglement.
In the birds’ gullets researchers found red plastic particles. Greenpeace reported that a staggering 80 percent of seabird populations observed worldwide have ingested plastics. Research into the stomach contents of dead Fulmars from the Netherlands, between 1982 and 2001, found that 96 percent of the birds had plastic fragments in their stomachs with an average of 23 plastic pieces per bird.
Plastic on your plate?
Microplastics are filling the seas and working their way into the creatures that live in them. That means these ocean microplastics are entering the food chain and, ultimately, our bodies.
A portion of consumer-grade mussels in Europe could contain about 90 microplastics. A big mussel eaters might eat up to 11,000 microplastics a year.
It’s harder to know how many microplastics we might be consuming from fish. Most studies to date have only analysed the stomach and gut content of these organisms, which are usually removed prior to consumption. But one study has found microplastics in fish liver, suggesting particles can get from digestive tissues to other body parts.
Microplastics have also been found in canned fish. Numbers identified were low, so the average consumer might only eat up to five microplastics from a portion of fish this way.
Another marine food source of microplastics is sea salt. One kilogram can contain over 600 microplastics. If you eat the maximum daily intake of 5 grams of salt, this would mean you would typically consume three microplastics a day (although many people eat much more than the recommended amount).
How our consumption of plastics has affected marine species deaths and increased human health risks, and it explores possible long-term solutions.
Garbage Patches
In the Pacific, there are two mass buildups: the western garbage patch and the eastern garbage patch, the former off the coast of Japan and the latter between Hawaii and California. The two garbage patches are both part of the great Pacific garbage patch, and are connected through a section of plastic debris off the northern coast of the Hawaiian islands. It is approximated that these garbage patches contain 100 million tons of debris. The waste is not compact, and although most of it is near the surface of the pacific, it can be found up to more than 100 feet deep in the water.
Solutions
‘If current trends continue, our oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050.’
There are small but significant changes we can all make to help reduce the plastics threatening to engulf our oceans, for example reducing our dependence on single-use items such as thin plastic bags, plastic water bottles, straws and cutlery, or taking part in local beach clearing initiatives.
NO to Single-Use-Plastic
Say no to single use plastic that you may come across on you daily life. Coffee cups, straws, cutlery and more, are the biggest marine pollutants. Avoid those, by purchasing reusable alternatives.
Manual Clean Up
The simplest, yet highly effective, action is the manual clean up of the beaches, coasts, rivers, lands and estuaries. You can meet with a friend or a group of people, and go to a close by beach or park and collect so plastic. More and more of this initiation are happening around the world. Not only that, there are a lot of non-profit- operations that are scheduling huge meetups!
National and international manual clean-up operations of shorelines and sea floor are in existence. Check this one;
Amsterdam Clean Water
Currently, Amsterdam hosts around one million visitors per month. Considering the fact that this number is growing rapidly, it becomes increasingly important to keep our city clean.
Amsterdam Clean Water has been founded in September 2016 by the municipality of Amsterdam, Waternet, Port of Amsterdam, Plastic Soup Foundation, PlasticsEurope Nederland, NRK and Berenschot, as part of a large central ‘clean city’ project from the municipality of Amsterdam.
It is a long-term program of 3 years targeted to bring structural change in waste management concerning the waters of Amsterdam. The goal of the program is to reduce the amount of litter that ends up in canals and the IJ River each year.
Within the program, several activities and projects are organized each year to raise awareness and create structural solutions. For example, during the Gay Pride Canal Parade, in 2016 and 2017, dip nets and trash bags were offered to the public along the quays.
Cleaning Up Of The Oceans
What’s more, many non-profit organizations, stared to develop advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. One that recently began its journey is;
The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, today launched the world’s first ocean cleanup system from the San Francisco Bay. The cleanup system (“System 001”) is heading to a location 240 nautical miles offshore for a two-week trial before continuing its journey toward the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1,200 nautical miles offshore, to start the cleanup.
The Ocean Cleanup hopes to install a fleet of these systems in order to tackle one of the Pacific Ocean’s greatest ailments: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And they want to remove around 50% of it in just 5 years.
Great Bubble Barrier
Too much human waste is dumped in our waterways and it brings great harm to the environment and human beings. Aquatic animals and fish get tangled in plastic, ships suffer damages and microplastics pose a health risk from the smallest to largest of organisms. This problem is increasingly seen and recognized by municipalities across the European Union.
Both ships as fish can pass a curtain of air, but plastic will be stopped: this is the principle of the Great Bubble Barrier. They create a bubble screen by pumping air through a tube with holes located on the bottom of the waterway. This upward flow of the bubble barrier brings waste to the surface of the water. When placed diagonally, the natural current is used to guide the plastic on the riverside, which makes it accessible for collection and accessible removal.
New EU lawmakers
Plastic plates, cutlery or cotton buds are one step closer to being banned across the European Union, with the European Parliament voting in favour of an environmental directive prohibiting single-use plastic products on Wednesday.
MEPs voted 571-53 in favour of the ambitious legislative proposal which seeks to drastically reduce single-use plastics, with an outright ban by 2021 of those for which readily available alternatives already exist. For products without clear alternatives, the focus is on limiting their use through reduction in consumption.
China’s decision to stop processing waste coupled with growing alarm over damage to oceans has pushed the continent to end reliance on developing countries to deal with its waste. Regulators hope the new rules will lead to a drop in the price of recycled plastics.
The EU’s final rules still need to be approved in talks with member states - some of which have balked at the curbs, worried they will be too difficult to implement for industry.
Every single year 8 million tons of plastic enters our oceans. Change starts with one person. It starts with one straw. It starts with one drop. “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
Future Research
With so much research and innovation surrounding the reduction of single-use plastic products, and recycling our used plastic for further use, there is much hope for a future with less plastic waste in our oceans. The reduction will likely be caused by a mixture of solutions, all working together, as there is no silver bullet that can fix our global trash problem.
Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time? That's the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage -- which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse "social plastic" in their products.
What do you do to use less plastic? By tagging us with #theconsciouschallenge you can share your ideas!
Want to contribute to our Ecological Footprint Bible? Submit us your scientific articles! Mail us at info@theconsciouschallenge.org
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