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River plastic transport and deposition amplified by extreme flood
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This study found that extreme flooding events dramatically increase the amount of plastic transported and deposited by rivers. During a major flood in the Netherlands, plastic transport rates surged and large amounts of plastic were deposited on riverbanks and floodplains. This matters because climate change is making extreme floods more frequent, which could spread plastic pollution into new areas and increase human exposure.
Abstract Plastic pollution in the world’s rivers and ocean is increasingly threatening ecosystem health and human livelihood. In contrast to what is commonly assumed, most mismanaged plastic waste that enters the environment is not exported into the ocean. Rivers are therefore not only conduits but also reservoirs of plastic pollution. Plastic mobilization, transport and retention dynamics are influenced by hydrological processes and river catchment features (for example, land use, vegetation and river morphology). Increased river discharge has been associated with elevated plastic transport rates, although the exact relation between the two can vary over time and space. However, the precise role of an extreme discharge event on plastic transport is still unknown. Here we show that fluvial floods drive macroplastic (>2.5 cm) transport (items h −1 ) and accumulation (items m −2 ) in river systems. We collected unique observational evidence during the July 2021 flood along the whole Dutch part of the Meuse. Plastic transport multiplied by a factor of over 100 compared with non-flood conditions (3.3 × 10 4 versus 2.3 × 10 2 items h −1 ). Over one-third of the modelled annual plastic item transport was estimated to occur within 6 days of extreme discharge. Between Maastricht and Ravenstein (291 km and 131 km from the river mouth), plastic transport during the flood period decreased by 90%, suggesting that the dispersal of plastic mobilized during the flood is limited due to the entrapment on riverbanks, in vegetation and on the floodplains. Plastic transport and accumulation on the riverbanks decreased significantly along the river, corroborating the river’s function as a plastic reservoir. Using new observational evidence, we demonstrate the crucial role of floods as drivers of plastic transport and accumulation in river systems. Floods amplify the mobilization of plastics, but the effects are local, and the river-scale dispersal is limited. We anticipate that our findings will serve as a starting point for improving global estimates of river plastic transport, retention and export into the sea. Moreover, our results provide essential insights for future large-scale and long-term quantitative assessments of river plastic pollution. Reliable observations and a fundamental understanding of plastic transport are key to designing effective prevention and reduction strategies.
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Researchers investigated plastic mobilization, transport, and retention dynamics in rivers during flood conditions, finding that high-discharge flood events amplify plastic mobilization from riverbanks and floodplains but that river-scale dispersal of that plastic remains surprisingly limited. They found that most flood-mobilized plastic is re-deposited within the river catchment rather than exported to the ocean, reinforcing the concept that rivers act as both conduits and long-term reservoirs of plastic pollution.
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