The Marine Plastic Footprint Towards a science-based metric for measuring plastic leakage and increasing the materiality and circularity of plastic, comprises a plastic footprint methodology that aims to help companies set priorities for developing circular economy approaches for tackling plastic pollution. Plastics are now omnipresent in the marine environment and this worsening trend needs urgent action. As a consequence, marine plastic bag pollution has become noteworthy environmental concern for governments, scientists, non-governmental establishments, and the international community (Carpenter and Smith, 1972). degradation rate) is also absent. Following fieldwork in 2018 and 2019, Mathis team is focusing on utilizing a circular economy and a circularity assessment protocol (CAP). Assistant Professor Rochman studies the ways microplastics integrate into all parts of the ecosystem and regularly provides advice to policy makers and managers in Canada, the United States, and the European Union. Knowledge about the fate of plastic in the environment (e.g. The urgently needed methodology will provide decision makers with improved data collection and analysis on plastic waste management at the global, regional and national levels. The panelists suggested that there are still gaps in the data that need to be filled with future research. 2022 Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern. In reaction, local governments have taken a number of steps designed to minimise the store-level use of single-use shopping bags in the following main categories: bans, fees and levying taxes; minimum product size of bags; public awareness requirements; and retailer take-back initiatives. S Katsanevakis, Marine debris, a growing problem: sources, distribution, composition, and impacts. Even though charging a levy on plastic bags has a positive effect on protecting and preserving the fertility of agricultural land, the resulting continued and dominant use of plastic bags itself would negate the benefits or advantages of the levy. However, the paid levy only had short-run success, and as soon as the price was set to a lower rate, the demand picked up. It highlights a clear plastic leakage model by having the first comprehensive set of equations and generic data to calculate leakage for plastic sources such as plastic wastes, textile fabrics, tyre dust, micro beads from cosmetics and fishing nets. Also, there is a lack of data to conduct impact assessments and to embed plastic impacts within Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) frameworks.
Animals often confuse the bags for food and consume them, therefore blocking their digestive processes. M Thiel, M Eriksen, N Maximenko, A Cummin, G Lattin, S Wilson, S Rifman, Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre, 2013, Marine pollution bulletin, 68(2) 7176. Master of Science in Energy and Sustainability (MSES), Center for Advanced Materials for Energy and the Environment (CAMEE), Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS), Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT), Program on Plastics, Ecosystems, and Public Health (PEPH), An Unlikely Ally in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution, Plastic Waste: You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure, Virtual Seminar Explores Government's Role in Plastics and Circular Economy. The methodologies reviewed in the report identify the abundance and distribution, types and sources, as well as pathways and sinks of plastic pollution at different scales. For urban solid waste, plastic bags have become major items in the litter system. When we talk about plastic as a whole, we need a combination of solutions. The presence of plastics in the marine environment poses several challenges that hinder economic development. Lessons from the Irish plastic bags levy, 2007, Environmental and Resource Economics, 38: 111. In line with IUCNs effort toclose the plastic tap,two new publications will be released next month. In addition, toxic substances are released into the soil when plastic bags perish under sunlight and, if plastic bags are burned, they release a toxic substance into the air causing ambient air pollution. Plastic bags are commonly used, even though we know they can damage the environment. A Sivan, New perspectives in plastic biodegradation, 2011, Current Opinion in Biotechnology 22: 422426. The report underlines the critical need to adopt a holistic, all-encompassing approach to measuring the impact of plastic pollution, one that assesses the entire value chain of plastic products and their entire life cycle, saysIUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme Director, Minna Epps. She noted that more than 8 billion metric tons of plastic waste has been produced since the 1950s while 8 million metric tons enter the oceans every year. Panelists with expertise in biology, ecology, engineering, and Earth and environmental sciences discussed their research and opportunities with more than 120 scientists and industry experts during the webinar: How to Track, Measure, and Communicate the Flow of Plastic Waste in the Environment. The online event was part of a speaker series by the Program on Plastics, Ecosystems, and Public Health (PEPH) at ISEN. The CAP strives to help foster a more efficient cycle of waste management and reuse, rather than the common take-make-dispose models of linear economies. Sign in for a better website experience, The IBAs response to the situation in Ukraine, Back to Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee publications. Plastic pollution is a complicated suite of products and solutions tailor your solutions to a specific product because thats what it will take along with materials innovation and recycling, Hoellein said. The CAP was designed by Dr. Jambeck, who is a fellow with the National Geographic Society and an expedition co-lead for its Sea to Source initiative, as well as one of the worlds leading experts on issues of global plastic contamination and waste management. Plastic bags are dumped indiscriminately into landfills worldwide that occupy tons of hectares of land and emit dangerous methane and carbon dioxide gases as well as highly toxic leachates from these landfills during their decomposition stage. With corporations taking increasing responsibility for waste and more continuous research in the field, he said the situation provides opportunities for future progress. Trapped shoreline plastic has a negative effect on shipping infrastructure, energy production, fishing, and aquaculture (Sivan, 2011). Mathis illustrated the attitude of people towards plastic pollution in Asia and how to use the CAP framework to reduce pollution. Plastic bags pose a threat not only to marine life, but also to agricultural land. According to Krause, only a minority of the mismanaged plastic waste that has been produced globally so far has ended up in the oceans, with the majority of plastic waste being stored for long durations ranging from decades to centuries in the sediments of river corridors. Economic losses are linked to lower tourism earnings, adverse effects on tourist activities, and harm to the marine environment. Additional investigation indicates that the legislations impact may rise over time (Hasson et al., 2007).
They need to include plastic waste reduction, waste management, and cleanup in order to truly mitigate this problem, said Rochman, who pointed out that data suggest that different communities have unique plastic pollution challenges due to the characteristics of the communities, and that solutions should be tailored accordingly. Compounds leaching from plastic bags has been found to be responsible for increasing levels of reported toxicity. Apart from providing a comprehensive overview of all 19 existing and emerging plastic footprint methodologies for the first time ever, the publication, Review of plastic footprint methodologies: Laying the foundation for the development of a standardised plastic footprint measurement tool also includes a glossary of key terms related to plastics and environmental footprints.
People use plastic bags to carry items like food and clothes, which are bought from shops. They further elucidated that the single-use plastic shopping bag is one of the leading causes of environmental and socio-economic problems worldwide, which has led to universal calls for use reduction intervention strategies. In an effort to monitor the environmental issues posed by plastic shopping bags, the government of South Africa merged regulatory elements with a per-bag tax similar to that imposed by the Irish government. Already an IBA member? Associate Professor Hoellein shared his research on how plastic and microplastic trash interacts with virtually every other ecosystem, impacting water resources all over the world. The major impact of plastic bags on the environment is that it takes many years to for them to decompose. With the implementation of the tax, the use of plastic bags dropped dramatically across retailers. Join over 5,200 people who receive the latest sustainability and energy news each month. For example, there is a lack of consensus on the physical and socio-economic drivers of plastic leakage and a lack of specific data to establish key parameters of leakage models. As a result, existing methodologies are not polymer specific. Rue Mauverney T Hofer, (Ed. Another publication,Plasticus Mare Balticum A synthesis of integrated research analysis and policy papers, compiles several reports from the IUCN Baltic Sea project. There are two types of methodologies: the first comprises methodologies that identify plastic waste streams and recycling rates at the national or business level; the second comprises methodologies that focus on pathway modelling to measure plastic leakage into waterways and oceans, from either mismanaged waste or in the form of microplastics. It also provides an overview of policies on marine litter in riparian Baltic countries, and includes research results from studies carried out in Canada, Sweden and Norway, highlighting how plastic can interfere with ice formation and melting, and how itinfluences the earths ability to reflect suns raysinto space. Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, EU Nature Restoration Law: A boost for biodiversity and climate, IUCN Species Survival Commission Chair is awarded with the Wolfgang Kiessling, Burkina Faso aims to adopt sustainable production methods in its cotton,, Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), World Commission on Environmental Law(WCEL), World Commission on Protected Areas(WCPA). It is an increasing source of contaminant, either introduced during processing or absorbed from the atmosphere.
There were instances where large endangered tortoises were found to have suffocated because of the mistaken swallowing of plastic bags combined with seaweed (Thiel et al, 2003). Plastic bags are accountable for the dilapidation of the atmosphere and agricultural land, which has inadvertently used up precious earth resources, in particular oil (Sugii, 2008). (Photo by Sara Hylton, National Geographic NatGeo.org/Plastic ). It also involves enhancing our understanding of the problem through research and the compilation of the latest science and data on the issue. These include reports on private sector surveys on circular economy, estimates of plastic leakage into the Baltic Sea and impacts of plastic pollution on selected endangered species. Simons (2005) suggests that, owing to the unregulated accumulation of carcinogenic compounds, the use of plastic bags may allow inroads into cancerous diseases. This now poses a major challenge to environmental and agricultural production. He talked about efforts to enlist citizen scientists to measure plastic waste and rank river systems based on the amount of waste they contain, taking into account that visual tracking often underestimates waste, while the manual collection of waste offers more detail. The consequence of this would be the environmental deterioration of the so-called developed global society. Convery et al., (2007) also explains that the Republic of Ireland introduced a levied tax on plastic shopping bags in 2002, which had hitherto been provided free at points of sale to customers. I hope we do it right and that we all come together around harmonizing strategies that truly create a sustainable culture, reduce our waste, and clean up our environment, concluded Rochman. The Japanese government has also levied a plastic bag fee to limit production and use (Md-Jalil et al., 2013). Today the European Commission proposed a new nature restoration law with binding targets on, American Humane, the US' first national humane organization and the worlds largest certifier of, The BIODEV2030 project, launched in early 2020 supports the country's development ambition, while, Headquarters Professor Krause develops models and global monitoring campaigns such as the 100Plastic Rivers program that investigate the environmental fate and transport of plastic in river networks and identifies hot spots and hot moments of plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems. Nor do they allow us to compare the different types of impacts between plastic pollution and other potential environmental impacts. The levys effectiveness has declined, despite its extensive application at checkout points, and customers have continued to steadily increase their consumption rates. All Rights Reserved. 3: 114. On 27 August 2019 at the World Water Week in Sweden, IUCN launched a report that identified numerous gaps and opportunities for developing a standard methodology to measure the extent of the plastic pollution crisis. An analysis of the review concludes that plastic footprint methodologies are lacking in several ways. Current LCAs do not account for plastic as a pollutant - they assume that 100% collection of waste streams go to landfill, incineration or recycling. Animals becoming entanglement in marine debris, including plastic bags, may cause starvation, choking, laceration, infection, reduced reproductive success, and mortality (Katsanevakis, 2008). The worlds largest and most diverse environmental network. Xinyi Zhang is a student writer at the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN) who pursued a Master's degree in journalism at Northwestern's Medill School, where she specialized in Health, Environment, and Science. The consequence of the tax on the use of plastic bags in retail outlets was intense. Expand your international network, gain new business and learn about the latest legal developments through IBA digital content and events, with IBA membership. Waste from plastic bags poses serious environmental danger to human and animal health. There are many root causes to attribute the problem of plastic bag waste in Nigeria and other countries.
C Simmons, Its in the Bag: An Estimate of the Effect of CO2 Emissions of the Irish Plastic Bag Tax (www.bestfootforward.com, 29 June 2017). This enables the modelling, field and business communities to speak a common language. And we are still in the fairly early and really exciting stages of developing tools and methods to set baselines and answer key scientific questions that will inform solutions going forward, said panelist moderator Maddalene. Plastic bags should be prohibited globally and their biodegradable equivalents should be implemented to address these gross and harmful issues. Indeed, few serious scientific investigations have been made by international organisations and the international community to reduce the ever-increasing consumption of plastic bags. It is very unfortunate that, although plastic bags have been seen to have reduced agricultural production worldwide, there has been little significant awareness-raising to undertake proper, effective and concrete proactive action. Plastic waste has only been an issue for the last several decades. According to Rochman, manufacturers and companies can push the boundaries of existing operations and products to improve recycling and reuse and otherwise protect the environment. There is a need to minimise our plastic use to effectively minimise plastic waste. Theres no one size fits all solution, and every country needs to act in a way that makes sense for their culture and their issues, she said. Taken on assignment for National Geographic's "Sea to Source: Ganges" expedition. F Convery, S McDonnell and S Ferreira, The most popular tax in Europe? IUCN tools, publications and other resources. This means modifying our everyday habits, not using plastic when there is a good alternative and only using plastic when it is strictly necessary. Based on the key findings of the report, we are currently working with UN Environment to develop a best-in-class plastic hotspot methodology that can provide key stakeholders with data and analysis needed to inform their decision-making on reducing plastic leakage.. Leaching toxicity from plastic waste should also be weighed when determining the effects of plastic pollution in oceans. South Africa, for example, has restricted the manufacture and usage of plastic bags by enacting parliamentary legislation. As recognised during the Third United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-3, Nairobi, 2017), there is currently no standard methodology to measure the extent of the plastic problem. Public and Professional Interest Division, Virtual Conference and Webinar Sponsorship, International Bar Association, 5 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LG. The infiltration of plastic waste into the environment constitutes a growing challenge for people and ecosystems across the globe, according to experts at a July virtual seminar hosted by the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN). Available for individuals, students, law firms, bar associations and corporations. Its a win-win-win situation in that volunteers are participating in research, non-profit groups are engaging with public in a new way, and the environment is cleaner, Hoellein said. Panelists included Taylor Maddalene, director of the Sea to Source: Plastic initiative at the National Geographic Society (NGS); Tim Hoellein, associate professor of biology at Loyola University Chicago; Chelsea Rochman, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto; Stefan Krause, professor of ecohydrology and biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham (UK), and Jennifer Mathis with the Jenna Jambeck research group at the University of Georgia. A Md-Jalil, N Md-Mian, M Rahman, Using Plastic Bags and Its Damaging Impact on Environment and Agriculture: An Alternative Proposal, 2013, International Journal of Learning & Development. Plastics have been identified as a problem in the marine environment since the 1970s, but the issue of plastic pollution in marine and freshwater environments has only recently been identified as a global problem. This has resulted in many detrimental environmental effects including animal choking, pollution, blockage of channels, rivers and streams, and landscape disfigurement. During the question and answer portion of the event, panelists addressed some of the remaining unsolved problems in plastic waste including the lack of a uniform measuring system. It is necessary to think about how they can be reused before disposing of them . It also prevents us from understanding the impacts and opportunities related to plastic usage. Trapped plastic bags along coastlines produces an environmental challenge that has detrimental effects on tourism. She explained that NGS is tackling this issue through its Sea to Source: Plastic program, which supports field research around the world to better understand the pathways of plastic in large river systems and to identify the hot spots where immediate intervention could have the most significant impact. There was a greater percentage decrease in use, with a related benefit in the form of reduced littering with adverse effects on the environment. Both publications stem from the IUCN Baltic Solutions to Plastic Pollution project funded by the Swedish Postcode Foundation. Discarded plastic bags that have already made their way into the field are not only particularly detrimental to farming but also severely harmful. 1196 Gland, We know that more than 100 million metric tons of mismanaged plastic waste were produced in the year 2010, Krause said. E Carpenter, K Smith, Plastics on the Sargasso Sea surface, 1972, Science 175: 12401241. Its critical, now more than ever to both develop and share those methods and that knowledge.. About IUCNs Close the Plastic Tap Programme. Plastic bag charging started with a fixed nominal price per bag across all retailers. The public should be informed not to use plastic bags, but to use eco-friendly alternative bags made from fabric, natural fibres and paper to reduce the problems associated with plastic bag wastes. This makes it difficult to design effective models to assess macro and micro plastic leakages and to tackle plastic pollution at source. R Hasson, A Leiman, M Visser,The economics of plastic bag legislation in South Africa, 2007, South African Journal of Economics, 75: 6683. If plastic bags are not properly disposed of, they can impact the environment by causing littering and stormwater drain blockages. The interconnectedness of plastic pollution across the boundaries of different cultures, social and political systems also highlights the complexity of the challenge for finding solutions to mitigate the plastic pollution problem across the globe, he said. A dumpsite near the Ganges River in Patna, Bihar. Plastic bags in ocean waters is a significant and growing global pollution epidemic. A call for mobilisation to the entire Union. View the new report, Review of plastic footprint methodologies: Laying the foundation for the development of a standardised plastic footprint measurement tool, here. As a result of these effects, the public at large, activists and legislatures have voiced outrage to the degree that some national governments have banned the use of plastic bags for shopping. Plastic bags remain a major source of land-based litter and marine debris, which obstruct stormwater management systems due to their tremendously low re-use and recycling rate. Plastic: Sea to Source By mobilizing global communities and investing in science, exploration, innovation and education, the National Geographic Society is working to tackle the worlds plastic waste crisis. Current methodologies do not allow us to better understand the impact of plastic leakage along the value chain, ultimately preventing us from measuring the extent of the plastic pollution problem. Even so, the combination of legislation and pricing has successfully curbed the short-term use of plastic bags. ), Marine Pollution. T Sugii, Plastic Bag Reduction: Policies to Reduce Environmental Impact (2008). Jennifer Mathis is an environmental engineer and PhD student working with Jenna Jambeck research group at the University of Georgia, shared details on a green engineering project she led with Vietnamese colleagues. Several European countries have adopted a fee for plastic bags, taking into account the negative effect of plastic bags on agricultural production. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to the use of cookies. Plastic bags can be reused or used for different purposes. We need to raise awareness in communities about poor waste disposal activities. Education is another critical tool for behavioural improvement by educating people about the environmental and health expense of using plastic bags. IUCNs programme of work on plastics has focused principally on seeking solutions to close the plastic tap and tackle plastic pollution at its source. Animals may also get tangled and drown in plastic bags. It can also help provide an understanding of peoples actions and behaviors and inform policy change. Her scientific collaboration provided a sneak peek at insufficient waste management solutions that require more decisive international transformations in the future. The IBA uses cookies to provide you with a better website experience. Last year, National Geographic conducted its first Sea to Source expedition along the Ganges with the goals of setting a baseline on the amount of plastic waste in the environment, supporting the development of intervention action plans, creating a replicable methodology, and scaling local capacity for increased impact. This involves the mobilisation of a wide range of stakeholders including governments, industries and society. (Courtesy of National Geographic). The CAP can help to inform communities by giving them a baseline assessment to work from and direct potential actions, Mathis said. Other actions that can be taken to limit the impact of plastic bags on the environment include taking part in neighbourhood clean-up efforts, voluntarily recycling household waste, avoiding littering and illegal dumping of plastic shopping bags, using eco-friendly materials as an alternative and adopting legislation which would make the use of plastic bags less attractive. More important still is the development of measures needed to determine how plastic in the air and in drinking water affects public health. Photo: By Nguyen Quang Ngoc Tonkin/Shutterstock. Switzerland, Transboundary water governance and diplomacy, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas, Review of plastic footprint methodologies. (Nova Science Publishers, 2008), 277324. She is encouraged by simple, localized solutions such as rain gardens that have been shown to collect up to 90% of the microplastic particles in stormwater runoff, or consumer solutions such as lint filters in washing machines that can divert up to 89% of microfibers from washing machine effluent. This highlights the important of analyzing the impacts of plastic waste that resides in river networks for a long time, creating a pollution legacy for generations to come, even if we would be able to magically stop all plastic leakage into the environment. In the United States, the single-use plastic bag is a significant worry for local governments. Regulation against the indiscriminate use and recycling of waste from plastic bags is strongly recommended, as well as restriction of the free sale of plastic bags by retailers. Prohibitions on the use of plastic bags and the development of alternatives are a most welcome step when compared to putting pressure on people's production and use of plastic bags.