Innovation is the only way forward to curb marine plastic pollution
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In a sign of growing awareness about marine plastic pollution, more than 100 students from various universities in Pakistan attended a WWF (World Wildlife Fund) webinar late last year to discuss an alarming finding that abandoned fishing gear was the deadliest form of plastic debris for marine life, capable of driving many species into extinction.
The WWF report reveals that 10 percent of marine litter is made up of fishing waste, which lingers in the oceans for centuries to wreak havoc on marine habitats. Indeed, plastic pollution has turned out to be a catastrophic crisis for Pakistan – where 55 billion plastic bags are in circulation, while 65 percent of beach garbage consists of plastic waste – as well as the international community, grappling to rid toxic waste from the pristine waters of the seas and oceans, making up 70 percent of planet earth.
The World Economic Forum has calculated that the global economy loses around $80–$120 billion every year from plastic packaging wastes. For an impoverished South Asia, the cost of plastic pollution has been enormous – in the form of exacerbating the risk of marine species extinction, multiplying community health concerns, and abetting economic losses caused by the severity of plastic litter. The region, accounting for 19 percent of global marine plastic pollution, is the third-largest contributor to global plastic waste generated from 334 million metric tons of solid wastes produced annually. Besides, South Asia’s collective inability to strengthen waste management systems, adequately regulate the informal plastic recycling sector or reform plastic production and consumption patterns has aggravated the pollution scenario, with land-based activities contributing to an estimated 80 percent of all plastic wastes in the oceans.
According to Karin Shepardson – World Bank’s lead environmental specialist, about 40 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year, and she estimates the region’s plastic wastes will double by 2050. Shepardson recommends urgent action to curb plastic wastes for protecting the environment.
Fortunately, there is no dearth of innovative ideas to tackle this emerging crisis, notwithstanding limited resources. Maldives, for instance, suffers from high levels of plastic pollution – especially on the beaches and in waters adjacent to shore, because of a faulty land reclamation policy as well as inadequate sewage and wastewater systems. A former minister in the Maldives government, associated with the launch of the country’s maiden national NGO alliance targeting marine plastic pollution, believes difficult hurdles have to be cleared in the days ahead.
The World Economic Forum has calculated that the global economy loses around $80–$120 billion every year from plastic packaging wastes. For an impoverished South Asia, the cost of plastic pollution has been enormous.
Seema Sengupta
“Mind you, not all micro-plastics and single-use plastics found in our seas originate here. With water currents, the debris field in the Indian Ocean ends up in different areas,” the ex-minister said and added it would require a herculean effort to usher a plastic-free environment in the island chain. The plastic alliance is committed to pooling resources, forging partnerships, engaging stakeholders and empowering communities to safely repurpose single-use plastics, and will encourage the allocation of Corporate Social Responsibility funds on specific campaigns and research-based projects. Meanwhile, Shepardson highlighted how local school children and their parents are engaged in adding value to plastic wastes, with the assistance of multinational sports goods manufacturer Adidas and environmental organization Parley for the Oceans. Littered plastic bottles are collected by locally marshalled teams, consisting of civil society members and students, which are then ground into small beads, pulled into threads and thereafter woven into ultra-durable and light-weight materials for manufacturing clothing and footwear. A portion of the proceeds is used to fund school education programs.
The World Bank decided to amplify the Maldives experiment on a larger canvas across South Asia. Last June, on World Oceans Day, the World Bank joined hands with Parley for the Oceans, and inter-governmental body South Asia Cooperative Environment Program to launch an ambitious “Plastic Free Rivers and Seas” regional project aimed at recycling and redesigning plastic wastes.
The USD 50 million project, seeking to confront plastic pollution and ramp-up eco-innovation to reinvent single-use plastic, have provisions for competitive block grants, public-private collaboration and reach out campaigns to induce behavioral change at the community level.
Shepardson, who doubles as the World Bank project’s task team leader, hopes that this initiative will facilitate the region’s seamless transition to a circular plastic economy, away from the linear ‘take-make-dispose’ model of consumption. But, will it be a panacea for plastic pollution, given the lucrativeness of the plastic waste import business?
Plastic being still in circulation in places where it has been legally banned, and the harmful side-effects associated with its production or recycling a cause for concern, the novel idea of adding value to plastic wastes will be a stop-gap one. Considering marine litter’s containment strategy’s limitations, Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch predicts the inevitability of bio-fabricated materials, manufactured from naturally occurring substances replacing plastic in the future. Till then, the abundantly found bio-degradable jute fiber can help drive South Asia’s circular economy.
- Seema Sengupta is a Calcutta based journalist and columnist
