Bidding Farewell to Marine Plastic Pollution: A Toxic Tale of Love and Hate

By: Linda Yanti Sulistiawati, Senior Research Fellow APCEL (Asia-Pacific Centre of Environmental Law), National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law, A/Prof of Law, Faculty of Law, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia.

Forty percent of the world’s ocean surfaces are filled with billions of kilograms of plastic swirling convergences. Marine mammals and other marine animals are the victims of plastic waste discarded by humans, whether it is single-use packaging, plastic goods, or even microplastic from our clothing and washing. Studies estimate there are now 15–51 trillion pieces of plastic in the world's oceans — from the equator to the poles, from Arctic ice sheets to the sea floor. Not one square mile of surface ocean anywhere on earth is free of plastic pollution.  

Dependency on plastic started from the discovery of producing plastic over a century old, which revolutionized our life completely. There are many tools and inventions that are made from plastic or are plastic based, which are very useful for our day-to-day activities, even life-saving devices which are crucial to our lives. Along the line, single-use plastic was invented with various uses for humans, such as food wrap, gift wrap, package protector, etc. This then developed into contagious plastic addiction coupled with a toxic mindset, which declares single-use plastic as cheap, safe, and simple.

In reality, there is nothing cheap, safe, or simple about single-use plastic. We can only use them once (hence the name ‘single-use’ plastic) as they are not recyclable, and they also take from 20-500 years to decompose. Estimates suggest that in developing countries, we only recycle less than 10% of plastic waste. Again, we see the divided worlds of developed and developing countries even in plastic waste management. Developed countries produced plastic and import plastic waste to developing countries, and developing countries are the ones who have to manage mounting plastic waste amidst their inadequate waste management infrastructure. 

The rest of the plastic waste are dumped into landfill which is mostly overburdened, then leaked into the ocean. This is how we mostly ended up with most of the marine plastic pollution, 80% of it- originated from the leakage from land waste. How do we manage this marine plastic pollution and change it from something wasteful to something beneficial? From being linear to a circular economy? There are a few main points worth discussing. 

First, changing the balance of supply and demand of single-use plastic. From what we understand, plastic producers keep on producing single-use plastic because they are in high demand for single-use plastic. We can stop this by changing the demand from high to low (or to zero!) by using environmentally friendly wraps, carrying our environmental grocery bags, buying our groceries in bulks instead of sachets, bringing lunch boxes if we are buying takeaway foods, carry reusable tumbler to buy our coffee/tea, etc. We can start this from ourselves and our families, and in some countries, these are reinforced by local and regional laws and regulations. As soon as the demand for single-use plastic subsides, the single-use plastic producers will be forced to reduce their supply or even stopped their production of single-use plastic completely. 

Second, pushing for 4R’s (refuse-reduce-recycle and reuse) circle to ignite circular economy in plastic. This movement is already done by private sectors and communities in several countries, including developing economies such as Pakistan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, where plastic wastes are collected by communities, recycled, and sold per kg of plastic waste (in ‘plastic waste banks’), and reuse to as completely new materials, which created not only income by the communities who collected the plastic waste, but also new jobs and a new production line for the private sector involved. The need now is to spread this practice and make it a massive movement for all plastic users.

Third, enforcing regulation nationally and internationally. Nationally, the implementation of marine plastic pollution regulation is mostly weak. The national regulations on marine plastic pollution regime are mostly dependent upon the national waste management regulation regime, which is made to focus mostly on waste management on land, and not on marine plastic pollution. On top of that, we have seen national governments struggle to manage their marine plastic pollution issues, especially when they are dealing with big multinational companies. This is where we need to have an international regime on marine plastic pollution. United Nations Environmental Assembly /UNEA 5.2. has decided that a new treaty on plastic will be ready to be adopted in 2024, and this will encompass the whole life cycle of
plastic. This would mean that the treaty would cover raw materials, production, manufacturing, use, reuse, repair, after use (landfill, energy recovery), chemical recycling, and leakages found in every step. States and stakeholders are also hoping that this treaty will include the prevention of marine plastic pollution, extended producer responsibility toward plastics and microplastics, and most importantly support mechanisms and finance from developed to developing countries.

In conclusion, this toxic relationship we have with single-use plastic must end immediately if we want our ocean and its biodiversity to be healthy and pollution free. We can do this together, changing our mindset, and protecting our marine environment for the future generation.

*) DISCLAIMER

Articles published in the “Your Views & Stories” section of en.tempo.co website are personal opinions written by third parties, and cannot be related or attributed to en.tempo.co’s official stance.