Rapid-Survey Methodology to Assess Litter Volumes along Large River Systems—A Case Study of the Tamsui River in Taiwan

Riverbanks are an important source of plastic pollution. However, the current assessment methods for riverbank litter are based on a point-based sampling which is time consuming and limited in scope. To quickly assess hotspot areas and litter compositions in larger areas, this study developed a new citizen science bicycle survey for riverine debris. Covering 281.5 km of the Tamsui river system in Taiwan, the new methodology was tested at one of the most plastics polluted rivers in the world. The results revealed an average litter density of 15.3 m3/km at the river mouth and of 0.2 m3/km to 2.8 m3/km along the riverbanks further upstream. The coastline was mainly polluted by derelict fishing gear whereas single-use plastics and illegally dumped waste dominated the upstream areas. A correlation between litter and population density could not be identified, but it was noted that litter hotspots occur at cut banks and near mangrove vegetation. Overall, the new methodology proved suitable to collect large quantities of data for scientific purposes and to quickly detect litter accumulations prior to clean-up activities.

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Environmental factors determining the distribution pattern of leeches (Clitellata: Hirudinida) in large river systems: A case study of the Oder River system

Biologia ◽

10.1515/biolog-2017-0043 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Izabela Jabłońska-Barna ◽

Aleksander Bielecki ◽

Joanna M. Cichocka ◽

Edyta Buczyńska ◽

Pawel Buczyński ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Factors ◽

Distribution Pattern ◽

Structural Changes ◽

River System ◽

Large River ◽

Taxonomic Structure ◽

Human Pressure ◽

Habitat Types ◽

Oder River

AbstractThe largest rivers in Europe are under strong human pressure, resulting in habitat changes and consequently in structural changes in the quantitative and qualitative composition of fauna assemblages. The aim of this study was to identify the taxonomic structure of leech assemblages and the main environmental factors influencing their distribution pattern on a 306 km stretch of the Oder River encompassing different habitat types. Representatives of 28 leech taxa were recorded in 527 samples of bottom macrofauna. The most abundant and most frequently recorded species was the eurytopic

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Flooding sedimentation at the Yellow River mouth, China

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20927 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yu Yonggui ◽

Shi Xuefa ◽

Wu Bin ◽

Qiao Shuqing

Keyword(s):

Yellow River ◽

River Mouth ◽

Extreme Case ◽

River System ◽

Large River ◽

Huanghe River ◽

Bathymetric Data ◽

Flooding Event ◽

Yellow River Mouth ◽

The Huanghe River

Chinese Huanghe (Yellow River) provides an extreme case of human controlled large river system. Since 2002, a unique Water-Sediment Regulation &#65288;WSR&#65289; regime was implemented annually through Xiaolangdi Dam to buffer pool infilling and scour the hanging riverbed. This involves transfers of large-volume of water and sediment between reservoirs, becoming a human-made flooding event. 37 surface sediments 8 box cores sampled during the 2018 WSR were analyzed for grain-size, C/N, 13C, radionuclides, etc. Satellite images together with high-resolution bathymetric data were incorporated to depict the flooding sedimentation at the river mouth. The results show that 7Be and 210Pb activity is pretty low, implying its incapability of tracing flood sediments at the Huanghe River mouth. The results also uncover that a majority of the sediment was deposited in the vicinity of the river mouth where the water depth is less than 15 m. Two depocenters with a maximum thickness of 9 m were formed expanding within a very restricted area, which was largely controlled by tidal currents.

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Public Perceptions of Legislative Action on Reducing Plastic Pollution: A Case Study of Atlantic Canada

10.20944/preprints202201.0192.v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Shen Molloy ◽

Andrew Medeiros ◽

Tony Walker ◽

Sarah Saunders

Keyword(s):

Public Support ◽

Public Perceptions ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

The Public ◽

Legislative Action ◽

Plastic Bags ◽

Public Acceptability ◽

Single Use

Government-led legislation is a key strategy to reduce plastic pollution; however, societal perception can heavily influence government intervention for environmental issues. To understand the public acceptability of government action to reduce plastic pollution, we examine the perception of existing and upcoming legislative action on single-use plastics by means of a structured survey with additional semi-structured interviews. Our focus is on the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, which was the first region in Canada to implement provincial-wide legislation for plastic reduction at the consumer level in 2019. Results show strong public support (77 %, n = 838) for bans on single-use plastic bags at the consumer level, and for further plastic pollution reduction legislation. However, the level of support differed between regions and by demographics. Semi-structured interviews show that decision-makers should increase efforts in raising consumer awareness and standardizing regulations across jurisdictions for smoother transitions prior to legislative action.

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Building Collective Ownership of Single-Use Plastic Waste in Youth Communities: A Jamaican Case Study

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci10110412 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 412

Author(s):

C. Andrea Bruce Clayton

Keyword(s):

Primary Schools ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

School Communities ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

Collective Ownership ◽

Global Environmental ◽

Single Use ◽

Teachers And Parents

Plastic pollution is a global environmental challenge with serious implications for human health. Most of the work on plastic waste to date has focused on assessing and mapping impacts and remedial activities, which are important but do not attempt to understand the attitude and behaviour of the consumer. The problem will only be resolved by changing behaviour to eliminate non-essential use of plastics and switch to less harmful alternatives, especially for Single-Use Plastic (SUP), which makes a disproportionate contribution to plastic waste. This study examines the attitudes and behaviour of teachers and parents/guardians in school communities as a step towards building collective ownership of SUP towards reducing the use of SUP. It establishes baseline data about attitudes and behaviour in four Jamaican primary schools. It examines the attitude of teachers and parents/guardians towards SUPs and uses cluster analysis to segment them based on attitude. The results identify the heterogeneous nature of groups within the same population and highlights the need for targeted interventions. This research can contribute towards the design of strategic interventions that will build a sense of collective ownership of the SUP problem and motivate effective changes in behaviour to minimise the use of SUPs in Jamaica.

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Key Construction Technologies for Large River-Crossing Slurry Shield Tunnel: Case Study

Journal of Aerospace Engineering ◽

10.1061/(asce)as.1943-5525.0001236 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 04020118

Author(s):

Song Zhou ◽

Guan-Lin Ye ◽

Lei Han ◽

Wang Jian-Hua

Keyword(s):

Large River ◽

Shield Tunnel ◽

Slurry Shield

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Getting information on suspended sediments in a large river from acoustic backscatter

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/20184004017 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 04017

Author(s):

Adrien Vergne ◽

Céline Berni ◽

Jérôme Le Coz

Keyword(s):

Suspended Sediment Concentration ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Suspended Sediments ◽

Sediment Concentration ◽

Large River ◽

Acoustic Backscatter ◽

Qualitative Information ◽

Sediment Size ◽

The Common

There has been a growing interest in the last decade in extracting information on Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC) from acoustic backscatter in rivers. Quantitative techniques are not yet effective, but acoustic backscatter already provides qualitative information on suspended sediments. In particular, in the common case of a bi-modal sediment size distribution, corrected acoustic backscatter can be used to look for sand particles in suspension and provide spatial information on their distribution throughout a river crosssection. This paper presents a case-study where these techniques have been applied.

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Application of failure mode and effects analysis to reduce microplastic emissions

Waste Management & Research ◽

10.1177/0734242x211003133 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0734242X2110031

Author(s):

Ana Pires ◽

Paula Sobral

Keyword(s):

Failure Mode ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Effect Analysis ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

Heuristic Technique ◽

Single Use ◽

Regulatory Measures ◽

Plastic Products

A complete understanding of the occurrence of microplastics and the methods to eliminate their sources is an urgent necessity to minimize the pollution caused by microplastics. The use of plastics in any form releases microplastics to the environment. Existing policy instruments are insufficient to address microplastics pollution and regulatory measures have focussed only on the microbeads and single-use plastics. Fees on the use of plastic products may possibly reduce their usage, but effective management of plastic products at their end-of-life is lacking. Therefore, in this study, the microplastic–failure mode and effect analysis (MP–FMEA) methodology, which is a semi-qualitative approach capable of identifying the causes and proposing solutions for the issue of microplastics pollution, has been proposed. The innovative feature of MP–FMEA is that it has a pre-defined failure mode, that is, the release of microplastics to air, water and soil (depending on the process) or the occurrence of microplastics in the final product. Moreover, a theoretical recycling plant case study was used to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of this method. The results revealed that MP–FMEA is an easy and heuristic technique to understand the failure-effect-causes and solutions for reduction of microplastics and can be applied by researchers working in different domains apart from those relating to microplastics. Future studies can include the evaluation of the use of MP–FMEA methodology along with quantitative methods for effective reduction in the release of microplastics.

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