Study: 8 Million Metric Tons of Plastic Dumped Into Oceans Annually

hypnosec writes: According to a new study (abstract) that tracked marine debris from its source, roughly 8 million metric tons of plastic gets dumped into the world's oceans annually. Plastic waste is a global problem, and until now, there wasn't a comprehensive study that highlighted how much plastic waste was making it into the oceans. "The research also lists the world's 20 worst plastic polluters, from China to the United States, based on such factors as size of coastal population and national plastic production. According to the estimate, China tops the list, producing as much as 3.5 million metric tons of marine debris each year. The United States, which generates as much as 110,000 metric tons of marine debris a year, came in at No. 20."

Comments

Not that much

[CastrTroy]

I just looked it up, and the water in the ocean weights 1.5 Quintillion Tons (1.5 x 10 ^ 17 tons), which means we are dumping the equivalent of 0.000000005% of the mass of the ocean in plastic into the ocean. At those percentages, I wonder if the effects are really any different if we halved or quartered our pollution of the ocean. Really it would all be about the same to the ocean. Sure we should try to reduce how much we dump, but there's way bigger environmental problems to be working on.

Re:I have a solution

[Higaran]

That won't work because it would be more expensive to package, so the the stores will close because the $1 item will be priced at $1.50 or $1.75, and people will stop buying krap they don't really need, or only use a couple of times a year.

Simple solution

[F34nor]

Put a deposit on everything sold. The company gets an interest free loan for the life of the product and people are motivated to pick up trash. Yes I know its complicated but microdots or chemical signatures make even plastic bags traceable.

Re:Sounds like a business opportunity...

[taiwanjohn]

It's been over a decade since I first saw thermal polymerization mentioned here. I've often wondered if it would be economical to build a ship around such a contraption in order to trawl through the great ocean gyres, scooping up plastic garbage, squeezing out the water, and rendering it down into some kind of fuel. I reckon the process could be made energy-positive, but whether it would be enough to turn a profit is a tougher question.