A staggering 8m tonnes of plastic waste are entering the world’s oceans every year, or the equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world, according to the first scientific assessment of the problem.
The joint US-Australian study, released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Jose, analysed waste production data from 192 countries to conclude that between 4.8m and 12.7m tonnes of “mismanaged plastic” entered the oceans in 2010; 8m tonnes is the central estimate.
Plastic in the oceans is becoming a serious ecological problem for marine life, as well as an ugly pollutant washed up on beaches and floating on the open seas.
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