Ocean Plastics

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How do you think the problem of Ocean Plastics should be addressed?

Ocean
Plastics
Recovery
John Gysbers, PMP
75 months ago

6 answers

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If ocean plastics are more concentrated near shores where there are more human activities, devices and techniques, such as suction equipment, should be deleloped to remove them from both ocean surface and floor. The collected items may then be recycled / reprocessed or burned when possible.

Jianrong Feng
75 months ago
—Since China banned imports of items intended for reuse, many US cities have resorted to burning plastic rather than recycling it, Paul Gilman, chief sustainability officer for waste management firm Covanta - Dr. David E. 62 months ago
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Challenging issue because most people want to address the problem where it appear visually. Unfortunately this is the wrong place to look in my opinion. The first place to start would be to pressure manufactures to use sustainable packaging solutions that limit disposable plastics to our landfills and oceans. After that the individual consumer needs to step up globally and where possible opt out of the bottled waters and at a minimum utilize recycling facilities if available. For regions where regulation and consumer pressure doesn't work look to deploy clean up strategies that create jobs for local populations to boost economies and support the effort.

David Komjati
75 months ago
Well said - Dr. David E. 62 months ago
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Here's a great example of what can be done and employed across the planet - https://www.theoceancleanup.com/
Additionally, this is consumer responsibility 101, creating awareness of waste choking our oceans, not just plastics but any foreign matter and educating society of their responsibility to look after our environments.

Matt Gray
75 months ago
Many thanks - Dr. David E. 62 months ago
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In my opinion we are looking only at the consequential damage which cannot be solved unless we start at the source, which isn't the packaging industry.
Packaging is fulfilling a role in reducing the carbon footprint, if we take the complete supply chain into account.
Correct and well-designed packaging will save precious food and prevent it from being wasted.
Ocean plastics starts at the customer who heedless handles the packaging by just throwing it away on land and in rivers.
Changing this behavior of consumers would contribute in reducing ocean plastics.
The second step could be intercepting the packaging waste before it reaches the oceans.
It's a complex and Mondial problem involving a lot of different countries.

 

Hans Lansink
75 months ago
Agreed. Reduce usage of plastics, but do not ban the use of plastics as they serve the purpose well, and cut down waste as well as random and careless disposal. There is also nothing wrong to address consequential damage when plastics are already illy thrown - there are techniques now to remove ocean plastics that can be further developed. - Jianrong 75 months ago
A nice balanced thought - Dr. David E. 62 months ago
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Thank you all for the answers and opinions. All of you are right, but the one thing missing in these answers is the fact that this isn't just consumers. It is a proven fact that most of the ocean plastics originates in the developing world, where recycling infrastructure is not as developed as here in the west (although that isn't always the case either). It doesn't mean that people in the developing countries are not recycling, it means that there's no regulation on landfilling, such as where to dump it and what to do with it afterwards. Lots of landfills are along waterways and there's no leach protection or containment. That's where the problem starts. Of course, the consumer should be educated worldwide regarding Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, but from a regulatory perspective it can be very confusing for the consumer. Plastics 1 to 7 doesn't mean anything to the average consumer, and the fact that every municipality has its own regulations on what can and cannot be recycled is absolutely ridiculous. Until there's a clear understanding that ALL plastics is recyclable and SHOULD be recycled, cleaning up the oceans by mechanical means is just literally scraping the top off the iceberg. Consumer education doesn't mean much if local municipalities and landfill owners don't do their part to prevent waterways contamination, and make sure that plastics goes where it belongs, to the plastics recyclers. This also doesn't mean that it needs to be baled and shipped by the way, because in that way there's still a big chance that it ends up in the oceans. Plastics recycling should be done where the waste plastics originates and not in some far away country, out of sight out of mind. Keep it here, and create a $5 Billion industry with >10,000 jobs in your own backyard.

John Gysbers, PMP
75 months ago
Many thanks - Dr. David E. 62 months ago
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John Gysbers, PMP: you make a valid point regarding recycling as a need versus clean-up alone (though that is critical in my view considering the impact on the food chain, ultimately also impacting us). In addition, also strongly reducing the use of plastics is part of the solution. For instance:

  • Less to no individual packaging, favor quantities whenever possible
  • biodegradable packaging solutions
Bart Groenewoud
62 months ago
Agreed - Dr. David E. 62 months ago

Have some input?