Drifting plastic
A study from 2017 investigated two important rivers in the Netherlands, the Maas and the Waal. The researchers found on average 224 pieces of waste per every 100 meters in both rivers. In total, 60% of the waste consisted of plastic.
↓ The rivers carry the plastic pieces to the sea
The sea is now flooded by plastics. It is estimated that plastic debris accounts for 60-80% of marine litter. Because plastic does not perish, it can drift in the oceans for hundreds to thousands of years. It will break down into smaller pieces and degrade further when exposed to UV radiation.
↓The plastic debris impacts the ocean in destructive ways
Animals can mistake small plastics for food, which blocks their entire digestive system. They will feel satisfied, although they are not able to gain energy from the waste. Eventually, they will starve. Additionally, larger plastic items, like net fragment litter or ghost fishing gear, can cause entanglement of marine mammals.
↓ A part of the plastic strands along our shorelines
Stranded plastic along shorelines poses challenges that hinder economic development. They have negative impacts on tourism, recreational activities, shipping, energy production, fishing, and aquaculture resources. On the beaches in the Netherlands, approximately 380 pieces of litter are found every 100 meters, of which almost 90% is plastic.
Plastic on our dinner plate
While macroplastics have been reported in marine environments since the early days of plastic production, a recent growing concern focuses on microplastics (<5 mm). These can easily enter the food chain because the plastic particles are ingested by the fish we eat. This can cause potential deleterious health effects. When putting a shrimp bought at a fish market under the microscope, researchers can find seven squiggles of plastic in its gut. Scientists have found microplastics in 114 aquatic species and more than half of those end up on our dinner plates.
Studying the impact of microplastics on our health is very difficult. We know nothing about the way in which cooking affects the toxicity of plastics in marine species and if it hurts us. However, most microplastics seem to remain in the guts of the fish and are not found in the muscle tissue, which is what humans consume. One extensive report of The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization concluded that we are likely to consume only negligible amounts of microplastics. This does not mean that scientists are not concerned about possible health effects: data about the impact of microplastics is still lacking.
Impact on climate change
Plastic is problematic for the environment, even before it pollutes our oceans. This is because we need large amounts of fossil fuels for our global plastic production. To produce the material, 8% of the global oil production is used. Moreover, each stage in the plastic-life cycle produces greenhouse gas emissions. This includes the extraction and the transportation of fossil fuels, the manufacture of plastic and the management of plastic waste and its disposal. In 2019 alone, it has been estimated that the production and incineration of plastic will contribute more than 850 million tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. This is mostly because a large part of our plastic waste is being burned, which drives the emissions.
Furthermore, research suggests that plastic waste could have an impact on the ocean carbon sink because microplastic can be consumed by plankton. Plankton provides a crucial mechanism for absorbing atmospheric carbon and transporting it to carbon sinks deep in the ocean. Our oceans have the largest natural carbon sinks that have absorbed a substantial part of greenhouse gases, like CO2. If microplastics would disrupt the ability of these ecosystems to absorb carbon, this could compromise efforts to reduce global warming.