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Coastal Pollution and Waste Management
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This chapter reviews existing research on plastic pollution in oceans and coastlines, covering how plastic waste breaks down into microplastics, moves through rivers and air, and affects wildlife and humans. It also summarizes current approaches to managing this pollution, including recycling, AI-based monitoring, and international policies.
Marine plastic pollution is an environmental problem, threatening coastal ecosystems, marine biodiversity, ecosystem services, and humans worldwide. Rapid growth in plastic production, consumption, and poor waste management have caused plastic debris to accumulate in coastal and marine environments, where larger litter breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics. Pollutants travel through rivers, estuaries, atmospheric deposition, ocean currents, and coasts before entering food chains and bioaccumulating in humans. This chapter summarizes knowledge on marine plastic pollution, including production trends, waste generation, recycling, ocean leakage, spatial distribution, land- and ocean-based sources, transport routes, environmental transformations, ecological effects, and human health impacts. It examines developments in circular economy approaches, AI-based monitoring, remote sensing, IoT-powered surveillance, integrated waste management, and international policies, management, and stakeholder participation in coastal pollution management.
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Generation, Distribution, and Disposal of Marine Microplastic Debris
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This chapter reviews existing research on ocean microplastic pollution, covering where it comes from, how it travels and breaks down in the environment, and its effects on marine life and human health. It also discusses wastewater treatment methods, policy efforts, and international cooperation aimed at managing this pollution, and points to areas needing further study.
Plastic pollution in the marine environment
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This review provides a comprehensive overview of plastic pollution in coastal and marine environments, covering everything from how plastics enter the ocean to their effects on marine life. Researchers compiled global data showing microplastic concentrations ranging widely across different water bodies and sediments, with marine organisms accumulating significant amounts. The study underscores that plastic pollution causes ecological damage through entanglement, ingestion toxicity, and the transport of invasive species.
Plastic Pollution from River to Ocean: A Comprehensive Review in Indian Scenario
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This review maps how plastic waste travels from India's rivers to the ocean, highlighting that rivers act as conveyor belts transporting microplastics and nanoplastics from inland sources to coastal and marine environments. Given India's large population and extensive river network, the authors argue that current waste management policies have dangerously underestimated the riverine plastic pollution pathway.
From coastlines to the deep sea
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This paper provides an overview of plastic pollution in the ocean, describing the sources, transport pathways, and environmental impacts of plastic debris from coastlines to deep-sea environments. It discusses how plastics fragment into microplastics over time and the challenges this poses for marine ecosystems.
Microplastic Pollution and Its Detrimental Impact on Coastal Ecosystems and Mid-Ocean Gyres
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This chapter reviews microplastic pollution in coastal zones and mid-ocean garbage patches, covering how plastics enter the sea, their physical and chemical properties, how marine organisms ingest them, and what toxic effects follow. Microplastics can carry toxic pollutants through food chains and even transport invasive species across ecosystems. The review calls for more research to guide policymakers in managing one of the ocean's most pervasive pollution problems.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.