Our view on marine litter

Background

Marine litter is acknowledged worldwide as one of society’s major challenges. A rising global population and growing economies are creating more plastic waste which, combined with inadequate waste management, have resulted in uncontrollable amounts of plastic litter entering our oceans.

Plastic marine litter destroys coral reefs and severely impacts marine life. The economic cost is also enormous, with the UN Environment Programme releasing a report by Trucost estimating the global economic impact at USD 13 billion annually. This includes the costs of beach and harbour clean-ups and damage to the tourism and fishing industries. Finally, plastic waste in the ocean damages the image of the plastics industry and dilutes the many positive contributions that plastics make to society.

The sources of marine litter

The true quantity of plastic waste entering our oceans is still unknown. However, studies show that 80% of plastic marine litter comes from land and rivers, and that five countries – China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand – contribute more than 50% of this waste. This reflects their large costal populations, poor waste management practices and rapid economic and population growth.

Of all the plastic waste carried into the ocean via rivers, 88% to 95% of it comes from just ten rivers. Eight are in Asia (the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Yangtze, Haihe, Pearl, Mekong and Amur) and two – the Nile and the Niger – are in Africa. According to a WWF report published in 2019, 0.57 million tons of plastic enters the Mediterranean alone each year. Although the type of plastic waste varies by region, there is evidence that approximately 60% to 80% of marine litter is post-consumer plastic waste, of which the majority is single use plastics.

Biodegradable plastics are not the solution to marine litter

Plastics that biodegrade may seem an obvious solution to marine litter. However, the extent to which these materials degrade depends heavily on the conditions they are exposed to, such as heat, humidity and light. This means that plastics that would biodegrade on land may not degrade in the same way in seawater. Biodegradable plastics could also make littering worse, by encouraging people to litter in the mistaken belief that the product will rot away.

Retrieved plastics should be treated with the most sustainable process available

When plastics are collected from rivers and oceans, the most sustainable end-of-life process should be chosen. This will depend on a number of factors, including: whether there is proven technology available to collect sufficient plastics efficiently and protect marine life; the costs of collecting, transporting, sorting and recycling the waste; the condition of the plastic itself, which may have been degraded by wind and sunlight; and whether there is recycling technology available that can handle heavily degraded plastics without damaging the machines.

Collaboration and behaviour change are needed

Preventing plastic from ending up in the oceans requires all stakeholders to join together to create effective solutions. Through our Public Affairs network, we work closely with governments, local authorities, regulators and the plastics value chain to jointly improve waste management systems.

Wider society also has an important part to play, with consumers needing to change their behaviour to reduce littering. We therefore encourage and support communication programmes that increase consumers’ awareness of waste management.