A Spanish study shows that food packaging bought for takeout and drink bottles make up the majority of plastic waste in the oceans.
Published in Nature Sustainability a study The authors showed that 75 percent of the plastic waste that pollutes the oceans is supplied by ten products, and expressed the opinion that the pollution should end at the same source.
Plastic bags, bottles and boxes in the ocean
The most comprehensive study to date on ocean plastic pollution is based on an analysis of 12 million data from 36 databases around the world. Products that could be identified larger than three centimeters were included in the analysis, and microplastics and smaller pieces of plastic were excluded.
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According to research by experts from the University of Cádiz, single-use bags, plastic bottles, food boxes and packaging account for about half of the four most common marine pollutants, namely human pollution. The ten products also include plastic caps and fishing nets. Plastic straws and drink mixers make up 2.3 percent of your eyes, while ear cleaners and straws contain 0.16 percent.
“We are not surprised that plastic makes up 80 percent of ocean waste, but the fact that the proportion of food that is bought for take out is very high,” said Carmen Morales-Casels, head of research at The Guardian. The information will help politicians take action and try to shut down the marine litter spout flowing into the oceans instead of just cleaning up the litter.
A lot of waste also went to the seas from rivers
The analysis showed that the highest concentrations of litter are found along the coasts and on the sea floor near the coast. The litter is washed ashore by the wind and waves, researchers say, where it accumulates on the nearby sea floor. Fishing gear, nets, and ropes are largely found in the open ocean, but they make up half of the plastic waste there.
Photo: Create/Getty Images Hungary
Another study published in the same journal, which examined marine litter from 42 European rivers, found that most of this litter goes to seas from Turkey, Italy and the United Kingdom.
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(Image source: Getty Images Hungary)
