UNEP
Head Calls for World-Wide Ban on Pointless
Thin Film Plastic Bags
Washington DC/Nairobi,
8 June 2009 - From discarded fishing gear
to plastic bags to cigarette butts, a growing
tide of marine litter is harming oceans
and beaches worldwide, says a new report.
The report, the first-ever
attempt to take stock of the marine litter
situation in the 12 major regional seas
around the world, was launched on World
Oceans Day by the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) and Ocean Conservancy.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"Marine litter
is symptomatic of a wider malaise: namely
the wasteful use and persistent poor management
of natural resources. The plastic bags,
bottles and other debris piling up in the
oceans and seas could be dramatically reduced
by improved waste reduction, waste management
and recycling initiatives".
"Some of the litter,
like thin film single use plastic bags which
choke marine life, should be banned or phased-out
rapidly everywhere-there is simply zero
justification for manufacturing them anymore,
anywhere. Other waste can be cut by boosting
public awareness, and proposing an array
of economic incentives and smart market
mechanisms that tip the balance in favor
of recycling, reducing or re-use rather
than dumping into the sea," he said.
The report's findings
indicate that despite several international,
regional and national efforts to reverse
marine pollution, alarming quantities of
rubbish thrown out to sea continue to endanger
people's safety and health, entrap wildlife,
damage nautical equipment and deface coastal
areas around the world.
"This report is
a reminder that carelessness and indifference
is proving deadly for our oceans and its
inhabitants," says Philippe Cousteau,
CEO of EarthEcho International and Ocean
Conservancy board member. "Offered
here are more than mere facts and figures.
The time for action is now, and true change
will require taking a bold and courageous
stand. There are solutions that everyone,
everywhere in the world, can adopt to make
a positive difference for our water planet."
Plastics and cigarettes
top the "Top Ten" of marine debris
Plastic - especially
plastic bags and PET bottles - is the most
pervasive type of marine litter around the
world, accounting for over 80 per cent of
all rubbish collected in several of the
regional seas assessed.
Plastic debris is accumulating
in terrestrial and marine environments worldwide,
slowly breaking down into tinier and tinier
pieces that can be consumed by the smallest
marine life at the base of the food web.
Plastics collect toxic compounds that then
can get into the bodies of organisms that
eat the plastic. Global plastic production
is now estimated at 225 million tons per
year.
Plastics can be mistaken
as food by numerous animals, including marine
mammals, birds, fish and turtles. Sea turtles
in particular may confuse floating plastic
bags with jellyfish, one of their favorite
treats.
A five-year survey of
fulmars found in the North Sea region found
that 95 percent of these seabirds contained
plastic in their stomachs. Studies of the
Northeast Atlantic plankton have found plastic
in samples dating back to the 1960s, with
a significant increase in abundance in time.
Smoking-related activities
also receive top rankings when it comes
to sources of marine litter. Cigarette filters,
tobacco packets and cigar tips make up 40
per cent of all marine litter in the Mediterranean,
while in Ecuador smoking-related rubbish
accounted for over half of the total coastal
litter 'catch' in 2005.
"The ocean is our
life support system - it provides much of
the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and
climate we need to survive - yet trash continues
to threaten its health," said Vikki
Spruill President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy.
"The impact of marine debris is clear
and dramatic; dead and injured wildlife,
littered beaches that discourage tourism
and choked ocean ecosystems. Marine debris
is one of the most widespread pollution
threats facing our ocean and it is completely
preventable."
The two sides of tourism
The tourism and recreation
sector has a significant impact on the state
of seas and coastlines around the world:
. In some tourist areas
of the Mediterranean, more than 75 per cent
of the annual waste production is generated
during the summer season.
. In Thailand, it is
recognized that marine litter affects tourism
- a high-value industry for the entire region.
. Shoreline activities
account for 58 per cent of the marine litter
in the Baltic Sea region, and almost half
in Japan and the Republic of Korea.
. In Jordan, the major
source of marine litter is recreational
and leisure usage contributing up to 67
per cent of the total discharge, while shipping
and port activities contribute around 30
per cent and the fishing industry three
per cent only.
. Tourism is the third
most important source of revenue in Egypt,
while one-fifth of the country's hotels
are located along the Red Sea coast.
If well-managed, tourism
can contribute to maintaining the pristine
appearance of beaches and waters, as demonstrated
by Seychelles and Mauritius which contribute
almost nothing to the marine litter load
in the Western Indian Ocean despite being
popular tourism destinations.
However, ocean winds
and currents may carry unwanted marine rubbish
far from its point of origin. For instance,
Seychelles have reported an accumulation
of rubbish on the east coast of the Mahé
Island during the southeast monsoon, while
items dumped off the west Australian coast
have been retrieved on the east coast of
South Africa.
From source to sea
Land-based activities
are the largest source of marine litter.
In Australia, surveys near cities indicate
up to 80 percent of marine litter originating
from land-based sources, with sea-based
sources in the lead in more remote areas.
The problem of marine
litter is likely to be particularly severe
in the East Asian Seas region -home to 1.8
billion people, 60 per cent of who live
in coastal areas - which is experiencing
simultaneous growth in both shipping activity
and industrial and urban development.
Oil-based economics
and an associated construction boom in the
coastal areas of the Caspian Sea have made
marine litter a new and emerging concern
in the littoral states, particularly Iran
and Azerbaijan.
In South Asia, the growing
ship-breaking industry has become a major
source of marine debris and heavy metal
pollution to the adjoining coastal areas.
In Gujarat, India -
one of the largest and busiest ship-breaking
yards in the world - operations are carried
out on a 10-kilometer stretch on the beaches
of Alang, generating peeled-off paint chips,
iron scrap and other types of non-degradable
solid waste often making its way into the
sea.
The Southeast Pacific
has important ports and intense maritime
traffic. In the five littoral countries,
wastes from marine-based sources have been
reported, but there is very little information
regarding the origin and volume of these
wastes. According to one estimate, the Colombian
fishing fleet generates approximately 273
tons of marine litter each year.
The lack of adequate
solid waste management facilities results
in hazardous wastes entering the waters
of the Western Indian Ocean, South Asian
Seas and southern Black Sea, among others.
The cost of rubbish
Unsightly and unsafe,
marine litter can cause serious economic
losses through damaged boats, fishing gear,
contamination of tourism and agriculture
facilities. For example:
. The cost of cleaning
the beaches in Bohuslän on the west
coast of Sweden in just one year was at
least 10 million SEK or $1,550,200.
. In the UK, Shetland
fishermen had reported that 92 per cent
of them had recurring problems with debris
in nets, and it has been estimated that
each boat could lose between $10,500 and
$53,300 per year due to the presence of
marine litter. The cost to the local industry
could then be as high as $4,300,000.
. The municipality of
Ventanillas in Peru has calculated that
it would have to invest around US$400,000
a year in order to clean its coastline,
while its annual budget for cleaning all
public areas is only half that amount.
At the same time, flexible
and economic incentives and deterrents need
to be put in place to address the growing
problem of marine litter.
At the moment, port
authorities sometimes unwillingly discourage
ships from bringing their galley waste back
to shore - as seen in the East Asian Seas
region where ships are charged on a fee-for-service
(user pays) basis. Some vessel operators
therefore opt to dispose of their garbage
at sea - at no cost.
Adopting a 'no special
fee' approach to port waste reception facilities,
as pioneered in the Baltic Sea region, can
substantially decrease the number of operational
and illegal discharges and help prevent
pollution from ships to the marine environment.
The level of fines for
ocean dumping also needs to be reviewed
to make them a sufficient deterrent. For
example in the US the cruise ship Regal
Princess was fined US$500,000 (about ?336,600
or £268,719) in 1993 for dumping 20
bags of garbage in to the sea. Fines of
this level would act as a genuine deterrent
to dumping of marine litter.
Finally, income-generating
opportunities linked to collecting and recycling
marine litter can make a big difference
in some of the world's poorer regions. For
instance, in East Africa small-scale projects
that create jobs and reduce the levels of
marine rubbish need to be further promoted.
Notes to Editors
The report Marine Litter:
A Global Challenge is available online at:
http://www.unep.org/regionalseas/marinelitter/publications/docs/Marine_Litter_A_Global_Challenge.pdf
The 12 regional seas
which were included in the report are: Baltic
Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, East Asian
Seas, East African Seas, Mediterranean,
Northeast Atlantic, Northwest Pacific, Red
Sea and Gulf of Aden, South Asian Seas,
South Pacific, and Wider Caribbean.
For more information contact:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Head
of Media
