In 2010, we dumped around 8 million tonnes of plastic debris in the oceans. This number will increase more than tenfold over the next ten year if there aren’t urgent steps to improve waste management. With colleagues from Australia, Jenna Jambeck, Assistant Professor at the College of Engineering at University of Georgia, Athens, GA studied how plastic waste was generated globally. They also developed models that could estimate their annual contribution. Researchers found that 2010, coast nations produced nearly 275million tons of plastic waste. 4.8 to 12.7 millions tons ended up in the oceans. Plastic debris is being dumped in the ocean at alarming rates. Scientists claim that this is the first study of how plastic debris moves from land to the sea each year. They also discovered the main sources for ocean-bound plastic. They identified the 20 nations that had contributed most. The journal Science published their findings (citation below). Professor Jambeck stated that the 8 million metric tonnes of plastic going into the oceans of 2010 amounts to 5 grocery bags containing plastic per foot on every coastline around the globe. The annual input is increasing each year. Our 2015 estimate would therefore be 9.1 million tonnes. “In 2025,, the annual input would roughly double the 2010 output or 10 bags filled with plastic per foot along the coastline. The cumulative input from 2025 would be 155 millions metric tons.” This study combined solid waste data collected in 192 various coastal countries, with other factors like economic status and population density. Uncaptured plastic waste is the main culprit. They discovered that most ocean-bound plastic debris was littered and lost by waste management systems. Professor Jambeck stated that mismanaged trash is the result of poor management, open dumping and litter. These unmanaged materials are not captured and can then be released into the marine environment. Their models showed that the country’s size as well as its waste management system quality influenced how much waste was generated. Jambeck and his colleagues believe that countries worldwide need to decrease their waste levels and adopt better management strategies to stop the plastic debris exploding into the oceans. Jambeck stated that “we need to ensure we’re collecting and capturing solid and liquid waste around the globe.” The second thing is how we deal with it. These solutions must be culturally sensitive and respectful of economic and social concerns. However, a change in the way we handle waste could create jobs and provide opportunities for economic innovation. It could also improve the living conditions of millions of people. Scientists from the US Santa Barbara warn that the destruction of the oceans by shrimp farms and satellite-guided large-scale, giant-scale, sea-fishing, and seafloor mining has put a lot of marine life at risk. Citation: “Plastic Waste Inputs From Land into the Ocean,” Jenna R. Jambeck and Roland Geyer. Miriam Perryman. Anthony Andrady. Ramani Narayan. Kara Lavender Law. Science 13 February 2015: 347 (6223), 768-771. [DOI:10.1126/science.1260352]
