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.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	plastic, polyethylene, polypropylene, sea water, waste, water pollutant, debris flow, economic analysis, magnitude, marine environment, plastic waste, population size; prediction, solid waste, waste management
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Ecology
Research Field:	Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology)
Objective Division:	Environmental Management
Objective Group:	Terrestrial systems and management
Objective Field:	Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems
UTAS Author:	Wilcox, C (Dr Chris Wilcox)
ID Code:	118828
Year Published:	2015
Web of Science® Times Cited:	5133
Deposited By:	Zoology
Deposited On:	2017-07-20
Last Modified:	2017-10-16
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