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Where Does All The Plastic Pollution In The Oceans Come From?

Posted on 18th February 2023

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This report on Visual Capitalist describes a study of where the plastic pollution in our oceans comes from.

Estimates are that 1 million metric tons of plastic waste reaches the ocean every year. The result is the Great Pacific Garbage Dump, a vortex of garbage three times the size of France, in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.

Plastic Pollution By Country

The graphic to the right shows a visual breakdown of where all the plastic comes from. As one can see, the majority of the plastic waste is sourced from Asia: The Philippines, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, Thailand and Vietnam. The contribution of The Philippines dwarfs that of the rest of the world. Anyone who, like me, has worked in that part of the world will not be surprised. I have seen the grossly polluted streams and rivers flowing through cities like Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, filled with discarded plastic bottle and bags (see the photo below).

Plastic Pollution in Malaysia

One thing surprises me about the analysis: that the USA and Europe are not worse offenders. There was a time (up until 1934) when the city of New York dumped all their garbage in the ocean, but this doesn't happen anymore. The Rhine river, which empties into the North Sea is a notorious source of ocean plastic (although it pales into insignificance next to China's Yangtze).

I really think that it is time for there to be an international body to measure and police ocean pollution, and to fine the worst offenders (spending the income from fines on cleanup and prevention). People (individuals, governments and corporations) need to pay for the damage they do to our planet.