Plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, but the quantity of plastic entering the ocean from waste generated on land is unknown. By linking worldwide data on solid waste, population density, and economic status, we estimated the mass of land-based plastic waste entering the ocean. We calculate that 275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8 to 12.7 million MT entering the ocean. Population size and the quality of waste management systems largely determine which countries contribute the greatest mass of uncaptured waste available to become plastic marine debris. Without waste management infrastructure improvements, the cumulative quantity of plastic waste available to enter the ocean from land is predicted to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025.

Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

Supplementary Materials for Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

Plastics in the marine environment have become a major concern because of their persistence at sea, and adverse consequences to marine life and potentially human health. Implementing mitigation strategies requires an understanding and quantification of marine plastic sources, taking spatial and temporal variability into account. Here we present a global model of plastic inputs from rivers into oceans based on waste management, population density and hydrological information. Our model is calibrated against measurements available in the literature. We estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic waste currently enters the ocean every year from rivers, with over 74% of emissions occurring between May and October. The top 20 polluting rivers, mostly located in Asia, account for 67% of the global total. The findings of this study provide baseline data for ocean plastic mass balance exercises, and assist in prioritizing future plastic debris monitoring and mitigation strategies. Rivers provide a major pathway for ocean plastic waste, but effective mitigation is dependent on a quantification of active sources. Here, the authors present a global model of riverine plastic inputs, and estimate annual plastic waste of almost 2.5 million tonnes, with 86% sourced from Asia.

/pdf/river-plastic-emissions-to-the-world-s-oceans-2yzs8o2tlv.pdf

River plastic emissions to the world's oceans.

https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2978611/view

Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities.

Microplastics in freshwater systems: A review of the emerging threats, identification of knowledge gaps and prioritisation of research needs

The Danube so colourful: a potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe's second largest river.

The dispersal of fish larvae in rivers might result from water movement but also from larval behaviour. Although potentially crucial for dispersion, knowledge of the role of behaviour is still frag...

/pdf/movement-patterns-and-rheoreaction-of-larvae-of-a-fluvial-2xiuqh9n7j.pdf

Movement patterns and rheoreaction of larvae of a fluvial specialist (nase, Chondrostoma nasus): the role of active versus passive components of behaviour in dispersal1

Recruitment of Chondrostoma nasus and similar fish species in rivers is related to spatiotemporal linkages between larval hatching and nursery habitats. Active swimming behaviour contradicts the as...

/pdf/modelling-the-dispersal-of-riverine-fish-larvae-from-a-xs0dfbvkmk.pdf

Modelling the dispersal of riverine fish larvae: from a raster-based analysis of movement patterns within a racetrack flume to a rheoreaction-based correlated random walk (RCRW) model approach1

Bernhard Zens

Papers

The Danube so colourful: a potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe's second largest river.

Movement patterns and rheoreaction of larvae of a fluvial specialist (nase, Chondrostoma nasus): the role of active versus passive components of behaviour in dispersal1

Modelling the dispersal of riverine fish larvae: from a raster-based analysis of movement patterns within a racetrack flume to a rheoreaction-based correlated random walk (RCRW) model approach1