It is a well-known fact that plastic waste is a major cause for concern in the marine environments and efforts need to be increased in order to recycle more of the plastic we produce. This has been supported by a study published in the PLOS One journal on Wednesday which estimates that there are approximately 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans, weighing a combined 270,000 tonnes. The problem is not just restricted to the main oceans, with plastic waste reaching even the most remote areas of the globe.
The Research
The research was conducted between 2007 and 2013 and saw 24 expeditions assess the number of particles and weight of plastic waste floating in:
- The North Atlantic Gyre
- The North Pacific Gyre
- The South Atlantic Gyre
- The South Pacific Gyre
- The Indian Ocean Gyre
- Coastal Australia
- The Bay of Bengal
- The Mediterranean Sea
One of the most common sources of plastic waste collected during the research was from discarded fishing nets and buoys. Marcus Eriksen, leader of the research and co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, has suggested that an international program which would see fishing vessels financially compensated for reclaimed nets could help to address the issue. He does however highlight that this would do nothing to address the problems of other sources of plastic waste, which include:
- Bottles
- Toothbrushes
- Bags
- Toys
“Unless we can stop the flow – turn off the tap of these pieces of debris going into the ocean all the time – we’re not going to be able to stop the problem.” – Dr. Nancy Wallace, Director of the marine debris program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Our Recycling
At Coda Plastics pride ourselves on generating a minimal amount of plastic waste during the production process; something which helps to limit the amount of waste sent for landfill. We recycle all of the plastic waste we produce, as well as purchasing a lot of reprocessed waste from other companies in order to produce new products. In addition to that we also have a number of plastic which users can dispose of in domestic or industrial compost processes; degrading without trace in 6-12 months.
If you would like to find out more about our plastic manufacturing services, or the measures we have put in place to limit the amount of plastic waste we produce, do not hesitate to contact us.
