Alex Weber
https://www.theplasticpick-up.org/
Tag: Plastic
Beach Clean
COVID-related plastic waste in the ocean
Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics such as face masks, gloves, and face shields. The resulting waste, some of which ends up in rivers and oceans, is intensifying pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic problem. Using the model, the researchers found that more than eight million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste have been generated globally, with more than 25,000 tons entering the global ocean. Within three to four years, a significant portion of this ocean plastic debris is expected to make its way onto either beaches or the seabed. A smaller portion will go into the open ocean, eventually to be trapped in the centers of ocean basins or subtropical gyres, which can become garbage patches, and a circumpolar plastic accumulation zone in the Arctic Ocean.
— source University of California – San Diego | Nov 8, 2021
Plastic will destroy us in nine years
While most of us have been focusing on goals related to decreasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere, a subset of scientists have been eying another villain. Now word from the Plastic Health Summit 2021 is that we have nine years to save the world from irreparable plastic-wrought damage. Plastic Soup Foundation organized the one-day summit, held last Thursday, Oct. 21 in Amsterdam. Maria Westerbos, director of Plastic Soup Foundation, demanded that the World Health Organization declare that plastic waste is a public health emergency. If we don’t act now, she said, the harm caused by plastic pollution — both to the planet and to human health — will be irreversible by 2030. Plastic Soup Foundation is based in the Netherlands. Its mission statement begins, “Stop the plastic soup tsunami as soon as possible!”
https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/
— source inhabitat.com | Oct 25, 2021
Baby Poop Has Ten Times More Microplastic in It Than Adult Poop
Infants have an average of 10 times the concentration of a type of microplastic in their poop than adults, a pilot study released Wednesday found. The research, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, follows previous studies reflecting the ubiquity of microplastics—small fibers less than 5 mm in size originating from everyday objects like plastic bottles and polyester clothing and that end up in the planet’s waterways and human guts. Researchers focused on two types of common microplastics—polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC)—and measured feces from six infants and 10 adults. They also looked at three samples of newborns’ first waste, which is known as meconium. All were from New York state, and they were all found to have at least one kind of microplastic.
— source commondreams.org | Sep 22, 2021
ExxonMobil Lobbyist on Playbook for Plastic
“It’s Just Like on Climate Change”
Greenpeace UK has released additional video clips of its explosive, undercover interview of one of ExxonMobil’s top lobbyists. In these new video segments, Keith McCoy, senior director of federal relations for the oil giant, describes how the company’s playbook for dealing with public outrage over its plastic pollution is “just like on climate change.”
McCoy also reveals that Exxon is linked to PFAS, a substance incorporated in many consumer products that has become notorious as a “forever chemical” because of its durability in the environment and ability to foul water supplies. McCoy describes the company’s efforts to lobby against PFAS regulation “under the guise” of industry front groups — an effort he boasts has succeeded in keeping PFAS from becoming known as “the Exxon Mobil chemical.”
Greenpeace UK’s journalism project, Unearthed, obtained video footage of McCoy, it says, during a May Zoom interview in which it posed as a corporate headhunter. As Rolling Stone previously reported, McCoy boasted of the company’s success in blocking effective climate change regulation in Washington D.C., with the help of “crucial” senators, many of them Democrats.
— source rollingstone.com | Tim Dickinson | Jul 2, 2021
Just 20 firms behind more than half of single-use plastic waste
Just 20 companies are the source of more than half of all the single-use plastic items thrown away globally. Plastic bottles, food packages and bags are among billions of items that are used once and then thrown away, often ending up in the oceans. The research – carried out by a consortium including the London School of Economics – looked at which companies are at the base of the plastic supply chain and make polymers, the building blocks of all plastics. It names 20 petrochemical companies which it says are the source of 55 per cent of the world’s single-use plastic waste. The companies include ExxonMobil, Dow and Sinopec. The UK comes in fourth, with more than 40kg of plastic waste generated per person per year, the authors state, while Australia is top and the United States second.
US-based ExxonMobil is the biggest producer of single-use plastic, the report says, followed by: Dow, Sinopec, Indorama Ventures, Saudi Aramco, PetroChina, LyondellBasell, Reliance Industries, Braskem, Alpek SA de CV, Borealis, Lotte Chemical, INEOS, Total, Jiangsu Hailun Petrochemical, Far Eastern New Century, Formosa Plastics Corporation, China Energy Investment Group, PTT and China Resources.
— source bbc.com | 18 May 2021
Only 1% of global rivers contribute 80% of riverine plastic pollution to oceans
1000 rivers account for nearly 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean, according to our study, published in Science Advances. Our model suggests that instead of a handful of large continental rivers contributing the most emissions, a high number of small and medium-sized rivers play a significant role in the influx of plastic from rivers to the ocean. These 1000 rivers can present very different characteristics, including river width, flow dynamics, marine traffic, and urbanization. A wide range of mitigation measures must be applied to these rivers across the globe to substantially decrease the amount of waste entering our oceans from rivers. Our study results are accessible in this interactive map, where you can find and help to address your nearest polluting river. These 1000 rivers account for nearly 80% of global annual emissions, ranging between 0.8 million and 2.7 million metric tons per year, with small urban rivers among the most polluting.
— source theoceancleanup.com | 30 Apr 2021
Marine microplastics are now invading the atmosphere
Annual plastic production actually contributes a lesser amount of atmospheric microplastic than plastic discharge from the marine environment, which highlights the role of legacy pollution, according to the study. It’s estimated that about 10 million metric tons of microplastics are emitted into the atmosphere each year, which is similar to the annual amount of anthropogenic black carbon emissions. The potential impacts of atmospheric microplastics on human health and ecosystems are largely unknown, and experts are calling for further research and urgent action to address the issue. microplastics are plastic fragments smaller than 5 millimeters (about a fifth of an inch) but bigger than 1 micron.
— source news.mongabay.com | 27 Apr 2021
Americans May Add Five Times More Plastic to the Oceans Than Thought
The United States contribution to coastal plastic pollution worldwide is significantly larger than previously thought, possibly by as much as five times, according to a study published Friday.
The research, published in Science Advances, is the sequel to a 2015 paper by the same authors. Two factors contributed to the sharp increase: Americans are using more plastic than ever and the current study included pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste, while the earlier one did not.
The United States, which does not have sufficient infrastructure to handle its recycling demands at home, exports about half of its recyclable waste. Of the total exported, about 88 percent ends up in countries considered to have inadequate waste management.
“When you consider how much of our plastic waste isn’t actually recyclable because it is low-value, contaminated or difficult to process, it’s not surprising that a lot of it ends up polluting the environment,” said the study’s lead author, Kara Lavender Law, research professor of oceanography at Sea Education Association, in a statement.
The study estimates that in 2016, the United States contributed between 1.1 and 2.2 million metric
— source nytimes.com | Veronica Penney | Oct. 30, 2020