A Plastic Problem: Taking a Look at Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans

My daily routine consists of walks, reading, and hobbies. The walks and readings motivated me to write about a continuing global problem, municipal solid waste (MSW), especially plastic. In this Points of Reference, I discuss the harm caused by plastics in the oceans and what we might do about it. Plastic waste is one part of MSW. I produce it and I am not alone. In 2010, 2 billion tons of MSW were produced globally (Wilson and Velis 2015). Americans generated more than 4 lb/d of MSW in 2017, of which approximately 35% was recycled, 13% burned to generate electricity, and 52% landfilled. Approximately one-third of the recycled MSW in the United States is plastic. Global plastic production is approximately 300 million tons/yr and is not expected to decline. Microplastics (bottle caps, beads, degraded items) and macroplastics (drink bottles, single-use bags, etc.) find their way into the world's oceans by various routes, harming people and wildlife and proving costly to collect and remove. Publications in Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) journals show that plastics are difficult to test and cause potential ecological risks in diverse aquatic environments (Rochman et al. 2016; Peng et al. 2017). But we need more work on impacts to the oceans because they represent 70% of our planet. Annually oceans receive approximately 8 million metric tons of plastic, causing suffering in marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles, and other sensitive wildlife (Eriksen et al. 2014). Collecting and removing plastic debris from homes and other terrestrial locales is difficult and costly but even more so for oceans. Once there, it is widely dispersed by oceanic surface and bottom currents, is slow to degrade, and becomes chemical and physical stressors to sensitive marine receptors. Like other pollutants, it would be better if we could keep it from getting there in the first place. Not all “recycled” plastic gets reused. Once collected by recyclers, plastics are sent to be fuel for generating electricity or sorted and compressed into large cubes for transport. Often, plastic that is clean and fully recyclable gets combined with plastic that is not clean and not fully recyclable, making the entire cube unsuitable for reuse. Each of us can learn more about the proper procedures for cleaning and sorting our potentially recyclable items and follow them accordingly. If you do not have recycling options in your town, find out why and what you can do about it. Beyond better recycling, other actions are underway that might alleviate some of the problems. These include producing enzymes capable of degrading plastic; selling products in nonplastic, fully recyclable packing; and creating businesses that specialize in reusing formerly nonrecyclable materials. Even though “biodegradable plastics” have been developed, the environmental conditions needed for them to degrade are limited; and thus far, they have not been used widely. Many of the details on these actions can be found easily online. Although fast-food companies have largely weaned themselves from using foam packaging and multiple cities have banned plastic bags, it is up to us to wean ourselves from purchasing items wrapped in plastic. Many of us live in countries with consumer-driven economies that respond to changes in consumer behavior (spending). We can change our behavior and influence manufacturers by avoiding purchase of items wrapped in plastic as much as possible. We also can be more diligent in cleaning and sorting our recyclable plastics in accordance with our local recycling protocols and maybe get more involved with our local recycling organizations. There are other actions we can take. Exciting work by Lau et al. (2020) gives us a new way to evaluate actions to manage plastic waste. Look at their approach, which analyzes plastic use and production in much the same way as does the framework for evaluating greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change scenarios. As a SETAC member, explore how your research might contribute to evaluating and managing plastics. It might give you a new focus for your scientific interests. Think about submitting manuscripts on this topic to our SETAC journals and making presentations or organizing sessions at the annual meetings. Finally, if you are a daily walker like me, carry a bag and a pair of gloves so you can pick up plastic and bring it to recycling bins at your home or local facility. Every little bit helps keep it out of the environment. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and no endorsement of any product is implied herein. The author declares no conflict of interest. Data, associated metadata, and calculation tools are available from the corresponding author (rgstahljr60@gmail.com).