Drowning in Plastic

Current estimates state that 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year. At the beginning of October, England introduced a (more or less) compulsory 5p charge for every plastic bag sold in order to combat the problem of plastic waste in our society but, as the video in my previous post shows, it’s going to take a lot more than a plastic bag tax to address the damage we are doing to our marine ecosystems.

Dubbed the ‘new continent’ by some, the huge amount of plastic waste accumulating in the Pacific Ocean as a result of ocean current directions, paints an alarming picture.

In the centre of this area, Midway Atoll, an otherwise pristine paradise, has beaches littered with piles of plastic waste with everything from plastic bags to old computer monitors! Particularly upsetting is the effect on the albatross birds that inhabit this island with bodies of albatross whose bellies were filled with everything from old toothbrushes to cigarette lighters to fragments of plastic toys, strewn across the beaches. 

This albatross died with 558 individual pieces of plastic in its stomach (Photo credit: Eric Dale/FWS Volunteer)

And this isn’t a local problem, worldwide research currently estimates that 90% of all birds have ingested plastic and it is thought that by 2050, virtually all dead birds would be found with plastic in their stomach.

Aside from the obvious problems associated with plastic waste such as marine life becoming entangled in nets and plastic bags and ingesting harmful rubbish, a new problem associated with plastic has arisen: microplastics.

Microplastics are (as the name suggests) small particles of plastic less than 5mm in size and can occur when larger pieces of plastic are broken down or through accidental loss of industrial raw materials such as plastic pellets or powders. More recently, it has been brought to our attention that a large number of beauty products such as face washes and shower gels also contain microplastics in the form of micro-beads which directly enter waterways, eventually winding up in the ocean. 

(For more on the damaging effects of microplastics check out this blog)

Staggering new video footage show microplastics entering the food chain at its lowest level:

In theory, these microplastics ingested by the vital life form, plankton, could work their way through the food chain but currently, further research is needed to understand the impacts of microplastics on different levels of the food chain. 

So what is being done about the plastic problem?

Earlier, in August this year, scientists and volunteers spent a month gathering data on the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' with their findings due to be published by mid-2016. The expedition which was sponsored by the organisation, Ocean Cleanup, eventually hopes to lead to the construction of a 60 mile barrier in the middle of the Pacific to collect rubbish with plans for a 1 mile test barrier to collect rubbish near Japan.

There are also urgent calls for the waste management to be improved. Currently, 20 countries are responsible for 83% of all mismanaged material available to enter the oceans, with China at the top of this list producing over a million tonnes of marine debris singlehandedly. 

Map showing estimates of the amount of mismanaged plastic waste generated within 50km of coastlines (source www.bbc.co.uk)

Jambeck et al. (2015) argue that while rich nations need to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic items such as bags, developing countries need to improve their waste management strategies. If the latter isn't addressed, an additional 155 million tonnes of plastic could enter the ocean by 2025.

Further, World Bank calculations predict that global 'peak waste' is unlikely to be reached until 2100, suggesting the problem of plastic rubbish in our oceans may only continue to get worse.

Although efforts to trawl the ocean removing plastic or building large-scale barriers to collect waste are meritorious, it seems unlikely that we will be able to make much of an impact on the plastic already in our oceans especially given that a lot of it ends up on the ocean floor (average depth 14,000ft). The effort must focus on preventing plastic entering our oceans in the first place but given the usefulness of plastic as a material and the rapid development of countries such as India and China, this may be easier said than done...