Truck load of plastic waste dumped into oceans every 38 seconds: Report

Monday, 22 July 2019

More than three-quarters of all the world's plastic ever produced has been thrown away, with most ending up in landfills.

That's according to a Royal Society Te Apārangi report, which claims a rubbish truck-load of plastic waste - 15 metric tonnes - has been dumped into our oceans every 38 seconds over the past decade.

That waste is resulting in microplastics and associated toxins ending up in our bottled and tap water, seafood, and table salt, and even air and household dust.

To tackle the problem, researchers are calling on businesses to reduce or phase out plastic packaging, or ensure their plastics are reusable or recyclable.

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They stress changing consumer behaviour alone won't fix the problem, and have called for plastic products to be more durable, and for clear and consistent labelling to ensure plastics end up in the right place.

More research was also needed into several areas, including how much microplastic is actually ingested by humans and what damage it causes.

The report, released on Tuesday, states the rise of global plastic production has outpaced that of almost every other material in history.

While it has made life easier for many - from improving sterility in the healthcare industry to creating lighter vehicles for transport - it resulted in 302 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2015 alone.

According to American research cited in the report, an estimated 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic had been produced globally by 2015, with 6.3 billion tonnes of that (76 per cent) discarded as waste.

Between 1950 and 2015, just 9 per cent of plastic was recycled, and 12 per cent incinerated. The rest accumulated in landfills or elsewhere.

If that trend continued, it's estimated there would be more plastic than fish in our oceans (by weight) by 2050.

Dr Sommer Kapitan, a marketing lecturer from Auckland University of Technology (AUT), said plastic use had become a moral issue.

'Like cigarette smoking once was, using plastic is an addictive, unavoidable part of our consumer landscape.

'Until our plastic dependency rises to the level of moral outrage that drives regulatory and social norm change, our fixation on the convenience of plastics will continue unabated.'

Ideally, that social rejection would result in 'plastic shaming', Kapitan said.

'Carrying and using plastic should become as objectively gross as blowing smoke in a baby's face.'

AUT marketing lecturer Dr Joya Kemper said a change in regulation, infrastructure, technologies and social practices were needed to revolutionise the way plastic was used and created.

'Traditionally, businesses have not examined what happens to their product after it has been bought by the consumer.

'However, there is now demand for companies to take responsibility for their products and their disposal.'

AUT emeritus professor Thomas Neitzert said plastic production needed to be examined in the context of efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and limit global temperature rises.

'If we are serious about carbon emissions, then we have to reduce the overall consumption of plastics and establish the circular economy.'

PLASTIC PROBLEM​

• 600 million plastic bags and 60 million plastic bottles used globally every hour

• 4-8 per cent of global oil production used to make plastics (estimated 20 per cent by 2050)

• 407 million tonnes of plastic produced worldwide in 2015 (302 million discarded)

• Estimated 15-51 trillion microplastic particles in world's ocean in 2014

• 15 metric tonnes plastic waste dumped into ocean every year for past decade

• Less than 20 per cent of plastic waste recycled annually

Source: Royal Society Te Apārangi