River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans

Laurent C. M. Lebreton (), Joost van der Zwet, Jan-Willem Damsteeg, Boyan Slat, Anthony Andrady and Julia Reisser
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Laurent C. M. Lebreton: The Ocean Cleanup Foundation
Joost van der Zwet: HKV Consultants
Jan-Willem Damsteeg: The Ocean Cleanup Foundation
Boyan Slat: The Ocean Cleanup Foundation
Anthony Andrady: North Carolina State University
Julia Reisser: The Ocean Cleanup Foundation

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Plastics in the marine environment have become a major concern because of their persistence at sea, and adverse consequences to marine life and potentially human health. Implementing mitigation strategies requires an understanding and quantification of marine plastic sources, taking spatial and temporal variability into account. Here we present a global model of plastic inputs from rivers into oceans based on waste management, population density and hydrological information. Our model is calibrated against measurements available in the literature. We estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tonnes of plastic waste currently enters the ocean every year from rivers, with over 74% of emissions occurring between May and October. The top 20 polluting rivers, mostly located in Asia, account for 67% of the global total. The findings of this study provide baseline data for ocean plastic mass balance exercises, and assist in prioritizing future plastic debris monitoring and mitigation strategies.

Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15611

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15611

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