Origins of Plastics in the Ocean

Plastic debris has been observed in the marine benthos (Barnes et al., 2010). The ecological impacts of plastics collecting in the benthos on the organisms living there and on the marine ecosystem, in general, remain unclear and unresearched. 

The problem of plastic debris in the oceans will continue to grow in the future with more plastics being added each year into the ecosystem. Also, demographic patterns show preferential migration of human population to coastal regions. Already about half of the world s population live within 200 km of a coastline and that number will double by 2025 (Creel, 2003). The recreational use of beaches and the ocean (especially boating) is on the increase making it even more likely that plastics and other wastes will end up in the oceans. Once in water, plastics are dispersed in oceans worldwide plastic debris has even been detected in waters in Antarctica (Barnes et al., 2010). 

Plastics debris present in the oceans can be traced back to several sources  

Packaging waste from MS W and beach use About a third of the plastics resin produced globally ends up as plastic packaging of which less than 9% of waste in the MS W is recovered for recycling. Plastic litter on land can be transported to the oceans via storm drain runoff. Recreational use of beaches also results in beach litter that can be picked up by wind and tidal movements and transported into the water (Corcoran et al., 2009 Rosevelt et al., 2013 Ryan et al., 2009). Beach cleanup operations help reduce the litter but there is virtually no mechanism to collect such debris once they enter the water. 

Waste from navaP and commercial vessels The US Naval ships no longer discard the plastic waste at sea but bring them back to the shore for recycling. 

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