Marine Plastic Littering: a Review of Socio Economic Impacts

Marine plastic littering resulting from human activity constitutes an increasingly significant global issue. The use of plastic materials is steadily rising due to their light weight, durability and versatility. However, they are also low cost, leading to a higher chance of them being disposed of and consequently ending up in the marine environment. Furthermore, their low decomposition rates as a consequence of the aforementioned properties, result in plastic accumulation. This paper reviews marine plastic pollution and highlights the progress of research on its socioeconomic consequences, within the scope of ultimately developing a marine sustainability and protection approach. To that end and after a systematic inclusion/exclusion process of publications retrieved from the Scopus and Google Scholar bibliographic databases, six hundred and sixty-six (616) papers were selected for participation in the study. As far as economic implications are concerned, the impact of marine plastic pollution on marine-based sources of income, such as fishing, aquaculture, marine tourism and merchant shipping, was studied. Next, this paper evaluates the dire social repercussions in terms of human food safety and health, threat of injury or death and intrinsic natural value loss. Finally, prevention measures in the form of legislation and coping strategies at an international level are discussed.