Plastic Pollution Crisis: How Waste Ends up in Our Oceans

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 17:32:04 +0000

Every year, about 8-million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans, which is equal to five bags filled with plastic going along every foot of coastline in the world, according to Plastic Oceans, a non-profit organization. By 2025, they estimate the annual input will be about twice that.

But how exactly is so much plastic and waste ending up in our waters? And what happens to that plastic once it is swept away by the oceans’ currents?

The ocean currents may push trash and plastic to a gyre — think of them like large slow-moving whirlpools in the ocean. When garbage enters a gyre, it’s slowly pulled into the center where they form a huge garbage patch.

Food Wrappers, Not Cigarette Butts Majority of Beach Litter

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 23:39:10 +0000

Ocean Conservancy released the results of the 2019 International Coastal Clean-up, revealing that for the first time in ICC history, cigarette butts were displaced as the number-one-reported debris item along beaches and waterways worldwide. Instead, food wrappers topped the list, with 943,195 volunteers removing a record 4,771,602 food wrappers in a single day. Food wrappers – a category consisting of crisp packets, sweet wrappers, drink pouches and similar flexible packaging – are usually made of plastics. Because they are often low-density and composed of multiple layers of plastics and other materials, these items are effectively un-recyclable.

Food wrappers are uniquely challenging from an environmental stewardship perspective because they are difficult, if not impossible, to recycle, and yet there are few comparable alternatives. It is time for food science and packaging experts to accelerate research and development of packaging that isn’t destined for landfills, and that keeps both people and our ocean safe and healthy.

ocean debris – Aquarius-Systems

Plastic Pollution Crisis: How Waste Ends up in Our Oceans

Food Wrappers, Not Cigarette Butts Majority of Beach Litter