In the fight against plastic pollution in the ocean, environmental activists are calling for a greater focus on preventing rather than eliminating waste.
Cleanup technologies could be expensive, have unintended consequences for the environment and distract from real solutions, NGOs OceanCare and Environmental Investigation Agency warn in a report. The third round of United Nations negotiations for a binding international agreement against plastic pollution begins on November 13th in Kenya.
For the report, the authors evaluated studies and research on the use of clean-up technologies. Over the past decade, numerous devices and technologies have been developed to recover plastic from oceans and rivers. A 2020 study identified 38 technologies, some of which are already in use and some of which are still in development status.
Use of clean-up technologies also carries risks
As good as the ideas sound, their use also involves risks: plastic waste and creatures in the sea often collect in the same places. Studies have documented a risk to ecosystems both on the high seas and in coastal areas, for example through bycatch of marine animals and other creatures. It should also be borne in mind that the use of clean-up ships on a larger scale, for example, has negative effects on the climate through the emission of greenhouse gases. The amount of garbage collected, however, remains manageable compared to the amount of plastic produced.
“These clean-up projects seem very tempting to the public and decision-makers. Wouldn’t such a simple solution be great? Just sail the seas with some kind of vacuum cleaner and otherwise do business as usual? In reality However, such technologies are inefficient, expensive, only a false solution and, moreover, a danger to marine wildlife,” said expert Ewoud Lauwerier from OceanCare.
Basically avoid plastic pollution
The authors call for cleanup technologies to be considered only in cases of extremely polluted ecosystems. Their use must be continuously monitored to ensure that it does not lead to any new environmental destruction. The focus of the negotiations on the plastic agreement must be to fundamentally avoid plastic pollution and to support local solutions. “Remediation measures must be coupled with binding regulations to reduce overall production and consumption of plastics, as well as global design criteria to promote safe and sustainable design of plastic products,” the report says.
Scientists estimate that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans globally every year. That’s roughly equivalent to a truckload per minute. The United Nations wants to develop a convention by 2024 that will establish binding rules and measures that affect the entire life cycle of plastic. The UN’s goal is to massively curb environmental pollution from plastic waste by 2040.
