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Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 07:56 authored by Jambeck, JR, Geyer, R, Chris Wilcox, Siegler, TR, Perryman, M, Andrady, A, Narayan, R, Law, KL
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.

History

Publication title

Science

Volume

347

Issue

6223

Pagination

768-771

ISSN

0036-8075

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Amer Assoc Advancement Science

Place of publication

1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20005

Rights statement

copyright 2015 Amer Assoc Advancement Science

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems