Dumping to the abyss: single-use marine litter invading bathyal plains of the Sardinian margin (Tyrrhenian Sea)

2018 ◽  
Vol 135 ◽  
pp. 845-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Cau ◽  
Andrea Bellodi ◽  
Davide Moccia ◽  
Antonello Mulas ◽  
Paola Pesci ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6834
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E Black ◽  
Kathrin Kopke ◽  
Cathal O’Mahony

In European Seas, plastic litter from fishing activities, river transport, and poor waste management is one of the fastest growing threats to the health of the marine environment. Extruded polystyrene (XPS) and expanded polystyrene (EPS), specifically, have become some of the most prominent types of marine litter found around Europe’s coastlines. To combat this problem, the European Commission has ratified a series of regulations and policies, including the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy. However, in order to ensure that the benefits of such regulations and policies are realized at a scale that can adequately address the scope of the problem, decision-makers will need to integrate the opinions, values, and priorities of relevant stakeholders who operate across the EPS/XPS product lifecycle. In this study, we apply a 35-statement Q-methodology to identify the priorities of stakeholders as they relate to the Irish EPS/XPS market and the wider societal transition to a circular economy. Based on the responses of nineteen individuals representing industry, policy-makers, and community leaders, we identified three distinct perspectives: System Overhaul; Incremental Upgrade; and Market Innovation. The results demonstrate that the type and format of policy interventions linked to Ireland’s EPS/XPS circular economy are heavily contested, which presents significant challenges for driving the debate forward. These results provide valuable information on viewpoints that can be used by different stakeholders at national and EU levels to address areas of conflict, ultimately fostering the development of more effective, broadly supported co-developed policies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 102-109
Author(s):  
Natālija Cudečka-Puriņa ◽  
Lilita Ābele ◽  
Dzintra Atstāja ◽  
Vladimirs Cudečkis

Social acceptance of littering behaviour has changed in the recent decades, with rapidly increasing public awareness about the human health and biodiversity impacts that can result from waste-mismanagement. Littering has an important impact on landscape and overall environment. It is of vital importance to assess existing littering sources and to try to limit them at their source. During recent years European Union (EU) has significantly strengthened the waste management requirements. In terms of newer Member States it meant – inventory of the existing system, closure and recultivation of the sub-standard landfills, development of new infrastructure, using best available technologies and, of course implementation and development of separate waste collection system. In order to ensure higher quality recycling, requirements to sorted waste collection become higher. The authors see one of the solutions – implementation of the deposit refund system (DRS), especially taking into account that both plastic beverage bottles as well as bottle caps have been identified within top 10 single use plastic found in the marine litter. The research is based on the benchmarking and statistical data analysis. As the result of the research, the authors propose implementation of DRS as a solution both to Latvian waste management issues and as a tool to improve landscape from the environmental aspects.


2022 ◽  
Vol 964 (1) ◽  
pp. 012017
Author(s):  
Thanh-Khiet L. Bui ◽  
Quoc-Khanh Pham ◽  
Nhu-Thuy Doan ◽  
Thanh-Ban Nguyen ◽  
Van-Nghia Nguyen ◽  
...  

Abstract Marine debris is a significant threat to the marine environment, human health and the economy in Can Gio island, Vietnam. In this study, we conducted beach litter surveys to quantify and characterize marine litter from six beach transects in this region for the first time using the OSPAR beach litter monitoring guideline. A total of 29,456 items weighting 529,432 g was recorded from 12 surveys in two monitoring campaigns in December 2019 (dry season) and in June 2020 (rainy season). Plastic was the most abundant type of litter in terms of quantity (a total of 26,662 items) and weight (325,606 g), followed by paper and cardboard, cloth, wood, metal, glass and ceramics, rubber and other items. Meanwhile, ropes (less than 1 cm in diameter) and plastic bags accounted for the major parts of sampled plastic items, i.e., 20.18% and 14.46%, respectively. In general, a higher percentage of marine litter, particularly the fishing related items, was found in the rainy season than in the dry season, possibly due to increased fishing and aquaculture activities. In contrast, a reduction pattern of the single use plastics in the rainy season might be due to the decreased tourism activities during the Covid pandemic period. This study not only showed the magnitude of litter pollution, but also provided valuable information that could help decision making to better control and reduce marine litter in the region. In addition, insights from this study indicate that there is an urgent need to design collection, reuse and recycling programs in the area. The collected recyclables, specially plastics, will be a great source of materials for recyclers in a circular economy achieving sustainable development goals.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 331
Author(s):  
Federica Ferrigno ◽  
Luca Appolloni ◽  
Luigia Donnarumma ◽  
Floriana Di Di Stefano ◽  
Francesco Rendina ◽  
...  

Coralligenous structuring species (CSS) form a group of marine megabenthic species with an engineering capacity. Since they are highly vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, they have been selected for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) monitoring programs. The pressure and impact of fishing gear and marine litter on these species were evaluated through the image analysis of 54 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) routes along the Campania coasts (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). CSS density was calculated as the number of colonies/100 m2. Anthropogenic pressure was estimated as the frequency of frames showing longline, nets, other gear, plastic objects, metal objects, and other litter; while the impact was expressed as the frequency showing necrosis/epibiosis, broken/upturned and covered/entangled colonies. Cnidaria dominate in the Napoli, Campanella and Capri areas, while Bryozoa dominate in Cilento N and Cilento S areas. Campanella and Capri appeared to be the least heterogeneous despite their higher CSS densities, which was possibly related to the dominance of a few species. These areas were the most affected by showing the highest numbers of fishing gear (longlines) and marine litter (metal objects) recorded, amongst which longlines are the most abundant. In addition, these fishing areas are either close to a large urban center or located along popular touristic routes. In all the areas, colonies with necrosis/epibiosis (CNE) impact are present with low-moderate values, while the category gears covering/entangling (GCE) impact prevails in the Campanella and Capri areas, and this is strictly connected to the high presence of fishing gear.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Ka Ka Lee

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12: Responsible consumption and production and 14: Life Below Water coincide in the targeting of the problem of plastic marine litter, which has been garnering immense media attention in the recent years. In the Bangkok Declaration of 2019, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed to significantly reduce marine litter. Efforts to reduce unnecessary plastic consumption have been seen in social movements, corporate policies and most noticeably, in regulatory control in the form of bans for specific types of single-use plastic items. A paradox exists as, arguably, civilization cannot sustain its current developmental momentum without the use of plastics, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic demanding higher levels of hygiene. This is the argument that is seen coupled with mass bans of single-use plastics, including packaging material and personal protective equipment. Corporate engagement to manage the plastic value chain in ways that commit to the creation of circular economies is attaining popularity. While reduction and substitution are being considered, the status quo of the scale of the production of plastics is still expected for the next few years as life cycle assessments (LCA), test trials of consumer acceptance towards novel delivery mechanisms and other forms of innovation are emerging. The reduction of plastics in the private-sector is allegedly ongoing but intangible in Southeast Asia. While recovery and collection innovations are underway for application and picking up speed, an unfathomable rate of marine litter entering waterways is still aggravating the bigger-than-ever problem of plastic marine debris in Southeast Asia. Responsible production has long adopted the concept of credits. Carbon credits are the most notable one, while palm oil credits are also prominently purchased by manufacturers to offset any palm oil content that is not yet sourced from certified sustainable suppliers. The concept of credits for plastics has been proposed but remains much less explored than their counterparts for other commodities. “Plastic neutrality” in the form of credit purchasing by manufacturers could likely be the final missing piece of the puzzle picturing a circular economy. In theory, the credit system could serve as an offsetting mechanism to recover from nature an equivalent or higher amount of plastics to be produced by the credit-purchasing responsible manufacturer. This paper explores how plastic neutrality through Plastic Credits, similar to the existing carbon and sustainable palm oil credits, could be applied in Southeast Asia.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Francesco Rendina ◽  
Federica Ferrigno ◽  
Luca Appolloni ◽  
Luigia Donnarumma ◽  
Roberto Sandulli ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 245-252
Author(s):  
V. V. Somov

In carrying out an investigation into the explosion, among others, the investigative version of the use of a single-use reactive grenade launcher is being considered. The most common for criminal explosions are applied grenade launchers RPG-18, RPG-22, RPG-26. Their use is due to a number of such properties as small size and weight, which makes it possible to transfer them covertly, the range of the shot significantly exceeding the range of the hand grenade throw, the high detonating effect of the rocket grenade explosion. The single-use rocket launchers are generally of the same design. Their differences are in the features of the components construction and dimensional characteristics, which are given in the article. On the basis of expert practice, details ofgrenade launchers that remain at the site of the explosion and have the least damage are determined. These details are the objects of investigation of the explosion technical expertise. These objects include launchers of grenade launchers and rocket parts ofjet grenades. The design features of the launchers, their dimensional characteristics and marking symbols make it possible to determine their belonging to a specific type of jet grenade launchers. Missile parts of jet grenades differ in the form of the combustion chamber of the jet engine, nozzle, in the size ofthe outlet section of the nozzle, in the form and size of the stabilizerfeathers. To determine the belonging of the rocket part of the grenade to a specific type ofjet grenade launcher, it’s necessary to establish a set of structural features and dimensional characteristics. At considerable damage of the combustion chamber of the jet engine, as a rule, the nozzle block remains intact that allows to define diameter of critical section of a nozzle, and on it to establish type of the used single-use grenade launcher.


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