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| The plastic wave. Source. |
Tuesday 12 January 2016
So long, farewell!
This is the end of my blog for now. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have found it as educational as I have.
Friday 8 January 2016
Is there a way out of this mess? Potential solutions to cleaning up our oceans
Potential solutions to cleaning up the plastic in the oceans are still in their infancy, however I've selected four ideas which could go someway towards reducing marine plastic pollution. However, given the huge amounts of plastic we're still producing I think this quote is rather relevant:
1) Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an ambitious project led by 20 year old founder and CEO Boyan Slat. Slat's idea is to place massive V-shaped floating structures in the ocean. The structure has a non-permeable screen going down into the water. Most of the current will still run under the screen, taking with it things of 'neutral buoyancy' i.e. sea-life, so there will be no by-catch. The 'positively buoyant' plastic will be caught, relying on ocean currents to bring it there. The project is well underway, having received crowd-funding. A lot of testing has already been done. In 2016, a 2000 meter long barriers will be deployed off the coast of Japan, with a smaller 100m to be tested later in the Netherlands, with the overall aim of deployment in the Pacific.
2) Plastic Republic, UCL iGem
This idea has arisen out of a student synthetic biology competition. Deciding to tackle the issue of marine plastic pollution, the student team from UCL came up with the idea of releasing an engineered bacteria into the North Pacific Garbage Patch to first degrade the plastic, and then release a biofilm to adhere to the plastic particles, with the overall aim of creating huge floating plastic islands. These large plastic aggregates would then be easily visible from air and collected, thus cleaning the oceans and reclaiming the plastic for potential second use. Watch their trailer below and check out their website here for more information on this very cool idea!
3) Seabin Project: in-water automated marina rubbish collector
On a smaller scale, two Australian guys have come up with the idea of automated rubbish bins placed in marinas, ports etc. which will catch rubbish (including plastic), fuel, oil and laundry detergent. The bins are then simply lifted out, emptied (for sorting and recycling) and put back to start all over again. Seabins are only really for use at coastal infrastructure, such as marinas, but these sheltered environments protect the seabins from ocean storms and use the tides to bring the rubbish to them. The location also means people can see first hand what is in the oceans, in the places where they swim or sail. Again please check out their website and watch their video below!
4) International Coastal Cleanup
Finally, I have to mention the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup. Whilst this isn't removing plastic from the ocean it is 'stemming the tide' of plastic going into the ocean, and collecting items washed ashore by waves. It's a voluntary movement, and anyone can get involved. In 2014, 560,000 volunteers in 91 countries picked up more than 7,000 metric tonnes of rubbish, an awful lot of it being plastic. It's great work, and I will definitely be looking into helping out!
"Imagine using a thimble to empty a bathtub, with the faucet still running." Algalita marine research and educationFor now, let's just imagine that we have managed to shut off that 'faucet' and prevented more plastic polluting our oceans. How can we remove the plastic that is already there? The ideas I'll discuss are by no means the only ones out there, and they range in the scale of their ambition.
1) Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an ambitious project led by 20 year old founder and CEO Boyan Slat. Slat's idea is to place massive V-shaped floating structures in the ocean. The structure has a non-permeable screen going down into the water. Most of the current will still run under the screen, taking with it things of 'neutral buoyancy' i.e. sea-life, so there will be no by-catch. The 'positively buoyant' plastic will be caught, relying on ocean currents to bring it there. The project is well underway, having received crowd-funding. A lot of testing has already been done. In 2016, a 2000 meter long barriers will be deployed off the coast of Japan, with a smaller 100m to be tested later in the Netherlands, with the overall aim of deployment in the Pacific.
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| The V-shaped boom. Source. |
This idea has arisen out of a student synthetic biology competition. Deciding to tackle the issue of marine plastic pollution, the student team from UCL came up with the idea of releasing an engineered bacteria into the North Pacific Garbage Patch to first degrade the plastic, and then release a biofilm to adhere to the plastic particles, with the overall aim of creating huge floating plastic islands. These large plastic aggregates would then be easily visible from air and collected, thus cleaning the oceans and reclaiming the plastic for potential second use. Watch their trailer below and check out their website here for more information on this very cool idea!
3) Seabin Project: in-water automated marina rubbish collector
On a smaller scale, two Australian guys have come up with the idea of automated rubbish bins placed in marinas, ports etc. which will catch rubbish (including plastic), fuel, oil and laundry detergent. The bins are then simply lifted out, emptied (for sorting and recycling) and put back to start all over again. Seabins are only really for use at coastal infrastructure, such as marinas, but these sheltered environments protect the seabins from ocean storms and use the tides to bring the rubbish to them. The location also means people can see first hand what is in the oceans, in the places where they swim or sail. Again please check out their website and watch their video below!
4) International Coastal Cleanup
Finally, I have to mention the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup. Whilst this isn't removing plastic from the ocean it is 'stemming the tide' of plastic going into the ocean, and collecting items washed ashore by waves. It's a voluntary movement, and anyone can get involved. In 2014, 560,000 volunteers in 91 countries picked up more than 7,000 metric tonnes of rubbish, an awful lot of it being plastic. It's great work, and I will definitely be looking into helping out!
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| Top 10 items collected by the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup in 2014. Source. |
Wednesday 6 January 2016
Microplastic update: Obama bans microbeads!
A few blogs ago I mentioned that laws were being drawn up to phase out microplastics in the USA. Well it's good news. Last week (28/12/15) President Obama signed a bill banning microbeads in facewash, toothpaste, and shampoo from 2017. Go Obama!
Now, it's time for the UK to step up as well. Sign this petition to call for our government to ban microbeads and halt microplastic pollution.
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| President Obama has banned microbeads. Source. |
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| It's time for Dave to step up and face the microplastics. Source. |
So that's what happens to our rubbish! Rising global plastic production and mismanaged waste
Judging from the amount of plastic being produced globally, we clearly do think that life in plastic is fantastic. We absolutely love the stuff. It's convenient, relatively cheap, light weight, and amazingly adaptable - all in all the perfect consumer product! Except for once we've finished using it... then it mounts up in our landfills, and pollutes our oceans. Oh dear.
PlasticEurope produces an annual report on the plastic market. Globally, plastic production is steadily increasing. Insatiable demand has driven global production up almost 50% from 204 million tons in 2002, to 299 million tons in 2013; and almost 750% since 1975 (0.4 million tons).
Unsurprisingly, most of the demand and production is in more economically developed countries, such as USA and western European countries, with China, India and other southeast Asian countries catching up quick. In western Europe and northern America plastic consumption per capita has reached 100kg annually. In Asia, it is at 20kg per capita per year, but rising rapidly. Asia is taking the lead in production too, producing 45.6% of global plastic in 2013, predominantly in China and India. Demand for plastics is largely driven by packaging, with plastic replacing metal, glass and paper packaging. Packaging is the most common use for plastic, followed by consumer and household products, then building and construction. Personally, I found this surprising - the majority of plastic is made to thrown away?!
With the increasing global production of plastic, the proportion of municipal solid waste that is plastic has risen accordingly. In 1960 plastics equalled less than 1% of such waste in the USA, in 2000 plastics were making up over 10% of such waste in 58% of the countries with available data. What happens to the plastic next is of crucial importance for the oceans. Taking the example of Europe in 2012, most of the plastic is 'recovered' - meaning that it is incinerated for energy recovery (36%) or recycled (26%). However, a great volume of it is still headed for landfill - 38% on average in Europe, and that average is being pinned down by countries with effective landfill bans such as Germany and Switzerland. The UK sends almost 70% of its plastic to landfill, ranking as the 5th worst country in Europe! Furthermore, 87% of Europe's plastic sent to 'recycling' is exported out to China, where it is not fully transparent how it is processed.
Where there is ineffective and insufficient management of plastic waste, there is also the potential for that plastic to end up in the oceans. UNEP reports that somewhere between 10 and 20 million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans each year. Jambeck et al. (2015) estimate the amount to be between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons. They estimated that in 2010, in 192 coastal countries, 275 million tons of plastic was generated. The map below shows the amount of plastic waste available to enter the oceans from populations with 50km of the coast. Jambeck et al. define plastic waste available to enter the oceans as that which has been 'mismanaged', including all plastic that goes to dumps and open landfills. China had the largest amount of potential marine plastic, producing 8.82 million tons a year of mismanaged plastic waste. The next highest produced less than half that of China. In 2nd place was Indonesia, producing 3.22 million tons a year of mismanaged plastic waste. 16 out of the top 20 producers of mismanaged plastic waste are middle-income countries. In these countries, rapid population growth follows rapid economic growth, whilst waste management infrastructure lags behind.
To conclude, we are producing enormous amounts of plastic to satisfy the growing global demand. Everyone loves using plastic, but there is a global ambivalence at best towards responsibly and effectively managing plastic waste. Poor plastic waste management enables plastic to end up in the oceans. It's estimated there are currently 5.25 trillion floating plastic particles, costing $13 billion a year in damage to marine ecosystems. The solutions appear to me to be two-fold: improve waste management, and reduce the amount of waste plastic in the first place.
PlasticEurope produces an annual report on the plastic market. Globally, plastic production is steadily increasing. Insatiable demand has driven global production up almost 50% from 204 million tons in 2002, to 299 million tons in 2013; and almost 750% since 1975 (0.4 million tons).
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| Global plastic production, and European plastic production. Source: PlasticEurope. |
Unsurprisingly, most of the demand and production is in more economically developed countries, such as USA and western European countries, with China, India and other southeast Asian countries catching up quick. In western Europe and northern America plastic consumption per capita has reached 100kg annually. In Asia, it is at 20kg per capita per year, but rising rapidly. Asia is taking the lead in production too, producing 45.6% of global plastic in 2013, predominantly in China and India. Demand for plastics is largely driven by packaging, with plastic replacing metal, glass and paper packaging. Packaging is the most common use for plastic, followed by consumer and household products, then building and construction. Personally, I found this surprising - the majority of plastic is made to thrown away?!
 |
| Different types of plastics and their uses. Source: PlasticEurope. |
With the increasing global production of plastic, the proportion of municipal solid waste that is plastic has risen accordingly. In 1960 plastics equalled less than 1% of such waste in the USA, in 2000 plastics were making up over 10% of such waste in 58% of the countries with available data. What happens to the plastic next is of crucial importance for the oceans. Taking the example of Europe in 2012, most of the plastic is 'recovered' - meaning that it is incinerated for energy recovery (36%) or recycled (26%). However, a great volume of it is still headed for landfill - 38% on average in Europe, and that average is being pinned down by countries with effective landfill bans such as Germany and Switzerland. The UK sends almost 70% of its plastic to landfill, ranking as the 5th worst country in Europe! Furthermore, 87% of Europe's plastic sent to 'recycling' is exported out to China, where it is not fully transparent how it is processed.
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| The destination of plastic waste in Europe. Source: PlasticEurope. |
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| Proportion of plastic sent to landfill by country in Europe. Source: PlasticEurope. |
Where there is ineffective and insufficient management of plastic waste, there is also the potential for that plastic to end up in the oceans. UNEP reports that somewhere between 10 and 20 million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans each year. Jambeck et al. (2015) estimate the amount to be between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons. They estimated that in 2010, in 192 coastal countries, 275 million tons of plastic was generated. The map below shows the amount of plastic waste available to enter the oceans from populations with 50km of the coast. Jambeck et al. define plastic waste available to enter the oceans as that which has been 'mismanaged', including all plastic that goes to dumps and open landfills. China had the largest amount of potential marine plastic, producing 8.82 million tons a year of mismanaged plastic waste. The next highest produced less than half that of China. In 2nd place was Indonesia, producing 3.22 million tons a year of mismanaged plastic waste. 16 out of the top 20 producers of mismanaged plastic waste are middle-income countries. In these countries, rapid population growth follows rapid economic growth, whilst waste management infrastructure lags behind.
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| Mismanaged plastic waste with the potential to enter the oceans, by country. Source: Jambeck et al. |
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