Synthetic polymers in the marine environment: A rapidly increasing, long-term threat

Article (PDF Available) in Environmental Research 108(2):131-9 · October 2008

with 1,907 Reads
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2008.07.025} · Source: PubMed
Charles James moore

Synthetic polymers, commonly known as plastics, have been entering the marine environment in
quantities paralleling their level of production over the last half century. However, in the last two
decades of the 20th Century, the deposition rate accelerated past the rate of production, and plastics
are now one of the most common and persistent pollutants in ocean waters and beaches worldwide.
Thirty years ago the prevailing attitude of the plastic industry was that "plastic litter is a very small
proportion of all litter and causes no harm to the environment except as an eyesore" [Derraik, J.G.B.,
2002. The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 44(9), 842-
852]. Between 1960 and 2000, the world production of plastic resins increased 25-fold, while recovery
of the material remained below 5%. Between 1970 and 2003, plastics became the fastest growing
segment of the US municipal waste stream, increasing nine-fold, and marine litter is now 60-80% plastic,
reaching 90-95% in some areas. While undoubtedly still an eyesore, plastic debris today is having
significant harmful effects on marine biota. Albatross, fulmars, shearwaters and petrels mistake floating
plastics for food, and many individuals of these species are affected; in fact, 44% of all seabird species
are known to ingest plastic. Sea turtles ingest plastic bags, fishing line and other plastics, as do 26
species of cetaceans. In all, 267 species of marine organisms worldwide are known to have been
affected by plastic debris, a number that will increase as smaller organisms are assessed. The number of
fish, birds, and mammals that succumb each year to derelict fishing nets and lines in which they become
entangled cannot be reliably known; but estimates are in the millions. We divide marine plastic debris
into two categories: macro, >5 mm and micro, <5 mm. While macro-debris may sometimes be traced to
its origin by object identification or markings, micro-debris, consisting of particles of two main varieties,
(1) fragments broken from larger objects, and (2) resin pellets and powders, the basic thermoplastic
industry feedstocks, are difficult to trace. Ingestion of plastic micro-debris by filter feeders at the base of
the food web is known to occur, but has not been quantified. Ingestion of degraded plastic pellets and
fragments raises toxicity concerns, since plastics are known to adsorb hydrophobic pollutants. The
potential bioavailability of compounds added to plastics at the time of manufacture, as well as those
adsorbed from the environment are complex issues that merit more widespread investigation. The
physiological effects of any bioavailable compounds desorbed from plastics by marine biota are being
directly investigated, since it was found 20 years ago that the mass of ingested plastic in Great
Shearwaters was positively correlated with PCBs in their fat and eggs. Colonization of plastic marine
debris by sessile organisms provides a vector for transport of alien species in the ocean environment
and may threaten marine biodiversity. There is also potential danger to marine ecosystems from the
accumulation of plastic debris on the sea floor. The accumulation of such debris can inhibit gas exchange
between the overlying waters and the pore waters of the sediments, and disrupt or smother inhabitants
of the benthos. The extent of this problem and its effects have recently begun to be investigated. A little
more than half of all thermoplastics will sink in seawater.
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t_A_rapidly_increasing_long-term_threat [accessed Nov 21 2018].

Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities

Jefferson Hopewell, Robert Dvorak, Edward Kosior
Published 14 June 2009.DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0311

Abstract
Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight and durable materials, which can readily be moulded into a variety of
products that find use in a wide range of applications. As a consequence, the production of plastics has
increased markedly over the last 60 years. However, current levels of their usage and disposal generate several
environmental problems. Around 4 per cent of world oil and gas production, a non-renewable resource, is used
as feedstock for plastics and a further 3–4% is expended to provide energy for their manufacture. A major
portion of plastic produced each year is used to make disposable items of packaging or other short-lived
products that are discarded within a year of manufacture. These two observations alone indicate that our
current use of plastics is not sustainable. In addition, because of the durability of the polymers involved,
substantial quantities of discarded end-of-life plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural
habitats worldwide.

Recycling is one of the most important actions currently available to reduce these impacts and represents one
of the most dynamic areas in the plastics industry today. Recycling provides opportunities to reduce oil usage,
carbon dioxide emissions and the quantities of waste requiring disposal. Here, we briefly set recycling into
context against other waste-reduction strategies, namely reduction in material use through downgauging or
product reuse, the use of alternative biodegradable materials and energy recovery as fuel.

While plastics have been recycled since the 1970s, the quantities that are recycled vary geographically,
according to plastic type and application. Recycling of packaging materials has seen rapid expansion over the
last decades in a number of countries. Advances in technologies and systems for the collection, sorting and
reprocessing of recyclable plastics are creating new opportunities for recycling, and with the combined actions
of the public, industry and governments it may be possible to divert the majority of plastic waste from landfills
to recycling over the next decades.

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1526/2115.short

Plastic bag politics: modifying consumer behaviour

for sustainable development
Elaine Ritch

Carol Brennan

Calum MacLeod
First published: 06 April 2009

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00749.x
Carol Brennan, Academic Director (Marketing, Retail and Consumer Studies), School of Business,
Enterprise and Management, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh EH21 6UU, UK.
E‐mail: cbrennan@qmu.ac.uk

Abstract
The adverse environmental impacts of plastic bags, including production energy costs, limited
lifespan, increasing landfill content and inability to biodegrade, provide symbolic and practical
evidence of a ‘throwaway’ consumer culture which acts as a significant barrier to sustainable
consumption in particular and sustainable development in general. Decoupling consumer behaviour
from plastic bag use is therefore an important challenge in the pursuit of sustainable consumption as
a precursor to achieving sustainable development. This article provides a critical evaluation of that
challenge, set within the theoretical framework of sustainable development. It examines the adverse
environmental impacts of plastic bag use and evaluates initiatives by governments and businesses
internationally to change consumer behaviour regarding the use of plastic bags in line with
sustainable development principles. The politics of this agenda are analysed using a combination of
consumer policy and public policy perspectives. Finally, the article draws conclusions regarding the
earlier analysis.