Plastic pollution is perhaps one of the most well-known environmental issues in the public sphere. Images of seabirds with plastic-filled stomachs and turtles ingesting plastic bags have sparked public awareness and action to reduce plastic use. Hence it is no surprise that marine plastic pollution was rated by survey respondents as the most serious environmental problem (Dilkes-Hoffman et al., 2019).
Carcass of a Laysan albatross (left, photo by Chris Jordan), Sea turtle eating a plastic bag (right, photo by Troy Mayne)
Just how much plastic is there in the ocean? Jambeck et al. (2015), a study supported by the Ocean Conservancy, estimated that 4.8-12.7 million tons of plastic are entering the ocean every year. The actual amount is likely to be higher, as the study only considered land-based sources that enter via waterways and coastal areas. Marine sources such as fishing gear and ropes also contribute to 20-30% of ocean plastic inputs (Ritchie, 2021). Another report has also estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 if plastic production continues to grow in a business-as-usual scenario (World Economic Forum et al., 2016), highlighting the need to reduce plastic use, as well as to better manage and limit the flow of plastics into the ocean.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The area with the highest concentration of marine plastic pollution is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Located between Hawaii and California, it is estimated to be 1.6 million square kilometres (Lebreton et al., 2018). That is approximately 2200 times the size of Singapore! It is estimated that 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in this accumulation zone and this number is growing exponentially (Lebreton et al., 2018).
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (photo by The Ocean Cleanup)
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a confronting reminder of the magnitude of the plastic pollution problem. It is just one of the areas concentrated with marine debris, as there are garbage patches found within the other ocean gyres too. In the next post, we will look at the impacts that these widespread ocean plastics have on both ecosystem and human health. Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Sarah
References
Dilkes-Hoffman, L., Pratt, S., Laycock, B., Ashworth, P. & Lant, P. (2019). Public attitudes towards plastics. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 147: 227-235.
World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation & McKinsey & Company (2016). The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics. Retrieved from https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf on 30 January 2022.
Jambeck, J.R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T.R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R. & Law, K.L. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223): 768-771.
Lebreton, L., Slat, B., Ferrari, F., Sainte-Rose, B., Aitken, J., Marthouse, R., Hajbane, S., Cunsolo, S., Schwarz, A., Levivier, A., Noble, K., Debeljak, P., Maral, H., Schoeneich-Argent, R., Brambini, R. & Reisser, J. (2018). Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic. Scientific Reports, 8: 4666.
Ritchie, H. (2021). Where does the plastic in our oceans come from?. Our World in Data. Retrieved from https://ourworldindata.org/ocean-plastics on 30 January 2022.