It is crucial to collect as much plastic waste as possible in order to fully address the problem. Diverting plastics from the ocean is a noble goal, but it only partially addresses the problem of improper waste management. Have you heard of ocean-bound plastic and what is it?
Plastic waste that is “at risk of ending up in the ocean” is referred to as “ocean-bound plastic” (OBP). 80% of marine plastic litter is thought to be produced by OBP. There is both a significant amount of non-commercially recyclable plastic waste and a small percentage of plastic waste that can be recycled for commercial purposes.
Keep reading, this article will introduce all you want to know about ocean-bound plastic.
Table of Contents
Where Did The Phrase “Ocean-bound” Originate?
Jenna Jambeck Ph.D., a renowned professor from the University of Georgia, is credited with popularizing the ocean-bound term concept. She created a thorough model to track various waste streams and comprehend what occurs when something is thrown away.
Jambeck’s 2015 article in Science explained that the majority of waste (including plastic waste) is not destined for the ocean. However, a sizeable portion will meet that fate. In fact, 31.9 million metric tons of waste are produced annually in coastal regions, which are defined as being within 50 kilometers of the coastline, and are classified as being poorly managed, which increases the likelihood that they will end up in the ocean. This proportion is entirely influenced by human history, geography, and grave global waste management shortcomings.
What Is Ocean-bound Plastic?
Ocean Bound Plastics (OBPs) are any “abandoned plastic waste of all sizes located within 50km from shore in communities or areas where the waste management is nonexistent or very inefficient.” These plastics are very likely to end up in marine ecosystems, where they will enter the food chain and endanger the health of aquatic and terrestrial species.
Plastics in particular are a cause for concern due to their durability and resilience. Plastics are a valuable commodity but also a threat to the environment because of their resistance to the forces of deterioration. Plastics have lengthy molecular chains and are difficult to degrade, whereas the majority of solid waste can biodegrade or oxidize. They damage and obstruct the gut of marine organisms when consumed, which can result in harm or death.
Despite the fact that large plastic objects are the most obvious, the most hazardous types of plastic for marine life are the micro- (5 mm) and nano- (1000 nm) sizes that result from mechanical abrasion and photochemical breakdown brought on by waves and UV light. In marine organisms, these particles can bioaccumulate and have a variety of negative health effects.
According to Reichert et al., microplastic consumption in corals causes “reduced growth, health, and altered photosynthetic performance. Additionally, these tiny fragments gather and concentrate organic substances that are hydrophobic, like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
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Main Sources Of Ocean-bound Plastic
OBPs are typically associated with throwaway items like packaging or products with linear cradle-to-grave life cycles, though their sources and composition vary significantly by region. Approximately 40% of the world’s population now resides 100 kilometers or less from the coast. For the majority of the resources and goods that we all use on a daily basis, transportation hubs are located in these densely populated coastal areas.
An estimated 4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste from these coastal regions entered the oceans in 2010. All coastal nations contribute to these figures, but the top five countries account for 54.5% of marine plastics, with China accounting for more than 25% of the global total (1.32–3.53 m MT/yr), followed by Indonesia (10.1%), the Philippines (5.9%), Vietnam (5.8%), and Sri Lanka (5%) More information about the nations is shown in Table 1 below.
Which Plastics Are Ending Up Into The Oceans?
To decrease the number of plastics that end up in the ocean and boost sustainability, the entire industry must abandon single-use products and ramp up recycling efforts. Due to the distinct characteristics of each type of resin and the recycling techniques, there are numerous obstacles to establishing a circular economy for plastic.
Recycling can be divided into four main categories:
- Primary recycling (mechanical recycling): closed-loop recycling to process into a product with similar properties
- Secondary recycling (mechanical recycling): recycling to produce products with lower or downgraded properties
- Chemical recycling in the tertiary stage: recycling to recover chemical constituents of the product (depolymerizing)
- Quaternary recycling (energy recovery) vaporization or the recovery of energy
Although thermoplastics are the most easily recycled materials in primary or closed-loop systems, their recycling is complicated by the fact that most products use a variety of polymer types and grades. Particularly after the products’ environmental degradation, the separation and sorting process is becoming more challenging.
Thermoplastics, which are recyclable, are used primarily in food packaging. However, only 8.4% of food packaging is recycled, and between 1.7 and 4.6% of it ends up in the ocean due to multi-layering, additives, composites, and poor management. Polyethylene and polypropylene with sizes smaller than 10 mm were found to make up the majority of the plastic debris in the pelagic zone in a multi-year study of the North-Western Atlantic.
Nearly all of the debris along the Kenyan coast was identified as either plastic or foam during a study. Food packaging was most prevalent (91.3%), followed by household and personal care items. Approximately 39.2% of the packaging along the beaches was multilayer, 32.7% was single-layer packaging (primarily polyethylene), 16.0% were PET bottles, and the remainder was HDPE, PP, and PVC.
Despite the fact that thermoplastics are best suited for closed-loop life cycles, it is clear that this is not how they are being used.
Why Didn’t All Brand Switch To PCR Plastics?
In actuality, recycling plastic is costly, and using recycled plastics complicates the supply chain. Along with higher costs, PCR is also connected to longer lead times. Flexible components have a limited number of applications in PCR because it is less robust functionally. It can be challenging to use PCR for opaque or light-colored plastics due to its aesthetic limitations, which include colored specks and a gray hue.
Future Of Sustainable Plastics
Although it may be difficult, there is a way to solve the plastic pollution issue facing our planet. The first step in becoming a more sustainable shopper is reducing the amount of plastic we use. Though purchasing plastics is inevitable, we can reduce the need for virgin plastics by choosing more environmentally friendly alternatives like Ocean-Bound Plastics and other PCR materials. In the world of recycling, there is no such thing as an easy fix. In actuality, there is still a long way to go in terms of raw material innovation. Understanding how crucial it is to remove plastic waste from our coastlines will not only benefit our beaches but also foster a happier and healthier ecosystem!
Final Thoughts
Plastics have changed our lives and society, but because of our throw-away society and ineffective waste management, they have also altered our marine ecosystems.
Marine plastics are a problem that calls for extensive and pervasive changes at every point in the life cycle of the product. All industries involved in its production, use, and disposal must cooperate for this shift to occur, but the producers of the used and discarded products must do so first.
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