How Recycling Can Help Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Ocean

Understanding Ocean Plastic Pollution

Ocean plastic pollution is defined as all plastic waste in the ocean irrespective of size. It encompasses such large objects as discarded fishing nets and bottles, but also the unseen components in the form of microplastics. Most of this pollution (as much as 80 percent) comes on land, which underscores the fact that the issue is based on a lack of proper waste management facilities and disposal patterns. The effects of such debris are widespread, and it is said to influence the ocean floor, through to the surface waters in even the most distant parts of the Earth.

How Does Plastic Waste Enter the Ocean?

Plastic waste in the ocean starts as a waste on the land. Ocean plastic pollution into the marine environment can be condensed to several major routes: 

1. Riverine Transport

Rivers serve as a main highway where in the cities and towns, the mismanaged wastes are collected and transported straight to the sea along their banks. An example is the Ganges, which is among the largest contributors of Ocean plastic pollution in rivers worldwide.

2. Uncontrolled Landfills and Dumping Sites

In regions where waste management is poor, landfills are usually open and lightweight plastic can easily be swept away with winds or washed away by rain and ultimately join drain systems leading to the ocean. 

3. Stormwater Runoff

When it rains, litter on the street and storm drains is swept into the ocean and does not undergo conventional wastewater treatment.

4. Direct Littering

Litter discarded on beaches, coasts, or debris discarded by marine industries (e.g. fishing equipment) are in the water.

Major Sources of Ocean Plastic Pollution

The origins of plastic pollution of the ocean are numerous and can be divided into two general groups:

Land-Based Sources (70-80%)

It comprises packaging; microplastics in the ocean (which represents the biggest market source of plastic), single-use products (bottles, bags, food wrappings), and microfibers discarded off synthetic clothes during laundry. The crux of the matter is the factors surrounding the pollution of the ocean by plastics, a worldwide addiction to single-use plastics and a serious shortage of proper waste collection and recycling systems in most locations. 

Marine-Based Sources (20-30%)

This includes mainly Abandoned, Lost, or otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), commonly referred to as ghost nets, and other shipping and offshore oil and gas platform debris.

Causes Behind Plastic Pollution in the Ocean

Although the sources explain the origin of plastic, the causes of ocean plastic pollution reveal why the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean are on a global scale. These are systematic problems that need to be solved to really put a check on the tide of plastic pollution in the ocean: 

Dependence on Single-Use Disposable Culture

Convenience-oriented modern society has heavily resorted to single-use plastic, meant to be thrown into the trash the moment it is finished, forming gigantic amounts of unneeded waste.

Management Infrastructure

Worldwide, several areas have inadequate, informal systems of collection and processing of the large quantities of plastic waste produced. In the absence of appropriate infrastructure, garbage is bound to be mishandled and spilled in the environment. 

Economic Costs to Recycling

In the past, the price of manufacturing new, virgin plastic has been lower than the price of collection and recycled plastic processing. Such an imbalance eliminates the economic motivation to recycle the ocean plastic regularly and redirect the land-based waste, which directly increases the effects of plastic pollution in the ocean

Poor Quality of Recycled Material

This is due to the inability to clean, sort and process waste using technology, thus giving a low quality of recycled material that cannot be utilized by the manufacturers which lowers the demand of the products and thus the recycling rates remain low.

What are the Effects of Plastic Pollution in Oceans?

Plastic pollution and causes of ocean plastic pollution will help us understand better the devastating impacts on marine organisms and its consequences have severe effects on the health and well-being of humans. 

Entanglement and Damage

The bigger plastic materials, especially ghost nets and rings, might entangle and injure thousands of sea creatures, such as whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles, which could result in suffocation or starvation. 

Ingestion and Blockage

Plastic is confused with food by the animals, and internal traumas, blockage of the digestive tract, and false sense of fullness (with subsequent death due to starvation/malnutrition) may occur. 

Toxin Accumulation

Plastic has a sponge effect, which is able to absorb toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the adjacent seawater.When this plastic is consumed by marine animals, these toxins may be deposited into their system resulting in neurotoxicity, hormonal imbalance, and damages to the immune system.

Why are Microplastics in the Ocean a Growing Concern?

Microplastics, one of the growing causes of ocean plastic pollution, are any plastic pieces that are less than 5 millimeters long and these are arguably the most sinister kinds of plastic pollution in the ocean. 

Pervasiveness

Over 95% of the plastic waste in the oceans of the world is microplastics and the number of these is projected to rise as bigger plastic waste is broken down into smaller fragments. 

Primary vs. Secondary: 

• Primary microplastics are specifically designed small particles (e.g. microbeads in cosmetics, industrial abrasives). 
• The secondary microplastics are formed as a consequence of the bigger plastic particles, such as bottles and bags, breaking apart as a result of sun exposure, and wave activity. This is the largest source of microplastics in the ocean. 

Entry into the Food Chain

These particles are ingested easily by the smallest marine organisms, including plankton and filter feeders, due to their size, so these particles enter the marine food web at the bottom. These contaminated organisms are consumed by bigger fish through a process called biomagnification and then caught by humans and consumed. Microplastics are detected in shellfish and edible fish, as well as in sea salt and drinking water, and pose serious questions on the public health issues of chemical exposure and chronic toxicity. That is the extent of the damage that ocean pollution does to our species.

How Recycling Helps Reduce Plastic Pollution in Oceans

Preventing the flow of plastic at its source is the most effective way to curb plastic pollution in the ocean. This is exactly what a formalised and high-quality circular economy made possible through modern recycling does. Recycling ocean plastic is a mandatory clean-up process, but recycling ocean plastic waste on land is a proactive option. 

Direct Diversion

Each kilogram of plastic collected, processed, and converted into a new product is a kilogram that is not disposed of in landfills and informal dumping locations—the very locations where plastic contamination in the ocean literally begins. 

Value Creation

The high-tech recycling firms, such as Banyan Nation organize efficient, formal collection streams and transform low-value waste materials into high-quality, virgin-equivalent of recycled plastic resin. This transformation will provide economic motivations to collectors and aggregators, who will retrieve plastic waste to make sure that it is a valuable product and not a readily disposable pollutant. 

Infrastructure Strengthening

By demonstrating the viability of high-quality sea plastic recycling (and land-based plastic diversion), companies contribute funds and formalize the waste management infrastructure that is in dire need of strengthening in areas where most ocean plastic leakage is taking place. It is the final plan of how to mitigate ocean plastic pollution and recycle ocean plastic. 

Less Virgin Production

The production of virgin plastic is lessened by recycling which results in a lesser quantity of new plastic being put in the market, and, therefore, the quantity of new plastic, which ultimately leaks into the environment is reduced. 

The model of Banyan Nation is based on the establishment of a traceable, clean, and compliant recycled resin (PCR) which the large brands can rely on. This ensures that they have a market to sell their recycled material and therefore collection and processing of plastic waste becomes a viable, ongoing and environmentally critical business.Ocean plastic waste recycling is a paradigm shift that focuses on expensive cleanup initiatives that are costly and reactive but efficient, sustainable, and preventative in managing materials.

Conclusion

The issue of plastic pollution in the ocean is an enormous one but the solution is right in our hands; ocean plastic recycling. Ocean plastic recycling does not have a solution that is limited to monthly or bi-monthly beach clean-ups. It needs a drastic, structural change of viewing plastic as an asset, rather than waste. As a brand, it translates to adopting recycling solutions for ocean waste and collaborating with other innovative firms, such as Banyan Nation, which can supply the recycled input of the required quality to ensure that the loop is closed. The circle economy, when reinforced on land, becomes an enormous wall that ensures that waste does not ever find its way in our rivers and, eventually, our treasured seas. It is the most practical, scalable and effective strategy of having a cleaner, healthier ocean in the days to come and this is possible through a strong commitment to recycling.