Plastics in the news:

Report (2010, Stichting de Noordzee): Plastic litter in rivers – amount and composition

Internationally, plastic litter in the marine environment is an accepted problem. One of the goals of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is to reduce the amount of plastic litter in seas. In a lot of official documents 80% of the marine litter is assumed to be land-based, but there is no legislation on reducing the amount of plastic litter in rivers. In this research, the amount and composition of riverine litter is investigated through a literature review, interviews with stakeholders in the Dutch water management sector and monitoring of riverine litter using a standardized approached for beach litter monitoring (OSPAR Beach Litter Monitoring).
The assumption of 80% of the marine litter being land-based is an estimated number that depends on the monitoring site. There’s always an amount of litter that can not be assigned to a source.
In the Netherlands only one research has been done on plastic litter in rivers. There is a lack of knowledge at the approached stakeholders about the amount of plastic litter in rivers. There are some local initiatives to clean river banks, but after these clean-ups there is often no consistent documentation of the amount and composition of removed litter.

Rijkswaterstaat, nature conservation organizations and researchers are potentially important stakeholders to get more information about plastic litter in rivers. These stakeholders have to deal with plastic litter in their work or are capable to estimate the amount of plastic litter in rivers through research. In this research it is impossible to estimate the amount of plastic transported by rivers to seas.
The composition of riverine litter differs from litter collected on beaches. Riverine litter is mostly recreational or household waste, partly originated from fly-tipping. The OSPAR method for beach litter monitoring is applicable for riverine litter monitoring, but a revision of categories of litter items is recommended. The most important factor to improve the knowledge on plastic litter in rivers is consistent monitoring and further research.

Attachments:

main report

appendix

huffingtonpost.com, 22/06/2011:

Are You Blue? Ten Things You Can Do to Help Heal Our Oceans

"Shocking" new scientific reports of the self-destructive abuse of our blue planet's oceans are enough to make anyone feel blue. Not just those of us on the coasts or who've studied marine life for many years. Without healthy oceans -- the fertile wombs of our worlds -- we land dwellers are also lost. It's a simple equation: Oceans = life support.

Because we are so focused on our terrestrial life, the marine world is often our dumping ground, battlefield, or playground. In the 21st century we are at last turning our attention to the fact that our oceans are so degraded, we face "the next mass extinction" -- and it's man-made.

If we humans created this disaster, then we can take action to help stop it. We cannot leave saving our seas to scientists or governments. Nor do we have time for the denial of compassion fatigue or despair. The only antidote is engagement, education, and action. Here are ten simple steps that we can do every day to help heal our oceans.

Attachments:

Are you blue?