How do plastic containers and other thrash end up in the ocean?

Question

There are many photos of the ocean, which in some parts is littered with all sorts of waste, often plastic bags, containers etc. But I just wonder - how do such large amounts land in the ocean/sea? Isn't waste disposed at secure sites - so such a bug would either be recycled or in the worst case end up on some landfill? Of course rogue companies or entities could occasionally dump some thrash into the ocean, but the massive amounts of it seem surprising to me. Beside, often the argument is to not use plastic bags, containers etc. but simply USING them doesn't put them in the sea. So what does, and can it be stopped?

Answer 1

There are many ways that plastic ends up in the ocean. About a fifth of marine litter is made up of fishing gear and other materials lost at sea by accident, industrial losses, or illegal dumping. And we know that roughly 80% of litter in the seas comes from land. The majority of plastic waste has simply been dumped in landfills or burned. However, when plastic waste is collected and transported to landfill sites, it can be at risk of escaping into the environment. Even when it’s in landfills, plastic is at risk of blowing away and ending up in rivers or oceans. Even more of a risk is plastic litter. That’s plastic that either that isn’t collected where good waste managements systems are lacking, or plastic that is simply dropped or left behind on streets or in the environment. These plastic items can be carried by wind and rain into our drainage networks or rivers that then flow into the sea. Major rivers around the world carry an estimated 1.15-2.41 million tons of plastic into the sea every year – that’s up to 100,000 rubbish trucks. Holidaymakers visiting beaches and leaving behind their bottles, food packaging and cigarette butts on the sand directly contribute to plastic getting into the ocean.

Ironically, the tourism industry that has enabled more people to visit beautiful beaches is suffering as the growing problem of plastic pollution is turning visitors off destinations where the problem is most visible.

Many people were horrified to discover that tiny pieces of plastic known as microbeads have been added to all sorts of personal care and cosmetic products that are washed directly down the drain – from face scrubs to shower gels to toothpaste. As many of these microbeads are too small to be filtered out by wastewater plants, these plastic pieces are remaining in water that may end up flowing into the ocean. Some countries simply dump trash in the ocean. The best way to stop this is to reduce your plastic use and push for legislation to reduce single-use plastics. I highly recommend that you seek resources such as Greenpeace, Oceana, 4Ocean, #BreakFreeFromPlastic, The Story of Plastic and many more. There are also documentaries on Netflix such as A Plastic Ocean that provides a lot of information.