Plastic Pollution in Rivers and Oceans
FR/R0030
November 2018
The presence of waste plastic in the surface water environment has developed into a serious problem. It is not only unpleasant, but is a threat to sea birds, aquatic mammals, fish and ultimately to human health. Plastic waste in the marine environment was first reported in the 1970s. However, in early 2018 the BBC TV series Blue Planet II had a major effect on the public consciousness, when the global issue of plastic pollution in the natural world was addressed by the series presenter, Sir David Attenborough. The topic has captured the media and public interest. The debate on what can be done has developed day to day and the issue has rarely been out of the news. Some dramatic and questionable statistics on the amount of plastic in the sea have been published. Among this avalanche of media concern, this ROCK seeks to explore the present problem in the surface waters of the planet and to review information on our behaviour and potential solutions.
Plastics production began in the 1940s. These materials have found widespread uses in packaging and manufacturing with inadequate attention to waste control and recycling. Most plastics are not biodegradable and take many years to centuries to break down. Consequently, contamination of the marine and freshwater environment has been a growing problem. Plastics are both abundant and widespread within the marine and freshwater environment, found in their highest concentrations along coastlines. Ingestion of the small particles which result as products break down (microplastics), has been demonstrated in a range of freshwater and marine organisms, a process which may facilitate the transfer of chemical additives or waterborne pollutants to biota. There is, therefore, concern about the effects of this material in the environment. Figure 1 shows the growth in global plastic production from 1950 to 2014 and estimated future trends to 2050.
It must be acknowledged that not all plastics and their uses are “bad”. There are reasonable arguments for its use in packaging to prolong the shelf-life of food products. There are many uses where it protects products effectively. However, plastic packaging has become so widespread and ubiquitous that it is being used in many unnecessary ways. It has become a cheap and effective method. One problem is that the disposal of waste has not adapted to the very different properties of plastic. It does not readily break down and is persistent in the environment in ways which more traditional paper-based products are not. Although recycling has improved, the variety of types of plastic waste make a coherent strategy for reuse and methods of processing more difficult. In the UK it is local authorities who have the responsibility for recycling. This has created confusion due to the many different types of plastic waste and the different local approaches. This has led to a lack of coherence between the types of plastics which are accepted in recycling schemes.
There are three basic questions:
Chapter 2 describes the different types of plastics and their uses. Chapter 3 considers sources of waste plastic and how it gets into the environment. Chapter 4 examines the persistence of plastic in terms of the long periods taken to decay. The movement of waste material and the paths and places it accumulates are described in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 examines the environmental impacts. Potential changes in the way we use and dispose of plastics are discussed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 considers the knowledge we will need and how this can be acquired.
Sources of further information are listed and a bibliography is provided to enable further reading.
Copies of the ROCK are available from the Foundation, price £15.00, less 20% to FWR members