Which Countries Create the Most Ocean Trash?

China and Indonesia Are Top

Sources of Plastic Garbage Reaching Oceans, Researchers Say
Author: Robert Lee Hotz
Publication info: Wall Street Journal (Online) ; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]12 Feb 2015: n/a.
ProQuest document link
Abstract:
According to the researchers, the coastal population of China generated 8.82 million metric tons of
mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, about 27.7% of the world total.
Full text:

SAN JOSE, Calif.--China and Indonesia are likely the top sources of plastic reaching the oceans,
accounting for more than a third of the plastic bottles, bags and other detritus washed out to sea, an
international research team of environmental scientists reported Thursday.

Marine biologists and ocean activists have grown alarmed about the seaborne plastic that fouls
shorelines and clogs currents from the Arctic to the South Pacific. But the actual amount and source
of it hasn't been known because consumer habits and pollution-control practices vary so widely world-
wide.

In a new accounting of global garbage, researchers in the U.S. and Australia led by Jenna Jambeck,
an environmental engineer at the University of Georgia, calculated the share that each of 192
countries could have contributed to plastic waste in the oceans. Their study is based on consumer
data and waste-management information covering coastal populations around the world. The U.S.
ranked 20th by the researchers' estimates, deemed responsible for just under 1% of the mismanaged
plastic waste.

They reported their calculations in the journal Science on Thursday and presented them at the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science here.

All told, Dr. Jambeck and her colleagues calculated that people living within 50 kilometers (30 miles)of
the coast in these countries generated a total of 275 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2010. A
small but significant fraction of it--between 4.8 million and 12.7 million tons of discarded bottles, bags,
straws, packaging and other items--ended up in the world's oceans.

In two dozen sampling cruises since 2003, other researchers have mapped vast vortices of plastic
debris floating on ocean currents and measured trillions of almost microscopic fragments of
weathered plastics suspended in the water at 1,500 locations.

Unchecked, the amount of plastic waste fouling the seas may double by 2025, reaching levels "equal
to 10 bags full of plastic per foot of coastline," Dr. Jambeck said.

According to the researchers, the coastal population of China generated 8.82 million metric tons of
mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, about 27.7% of the world total. Of that, between 1.32 million and
3.53 million metric tons ended up as marine debris.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection declined to comment. Its State Oceanic Administration
didn't respond to inquiries.

Ma Jun, an environmental activist based in Beijing, said the government has greatly expanded waste
collection and treatment in cities in recent years. Big supermarkets have reduced the use of plastic
bags or have begun issuing biodegradable sacks.

But the rapid expansion of cities has outpaced such efforts, Mr. Ma said. The Chinese government
"had made great effort to treat household refuse, but with the rapid development of urbanization, the
ability to dispose of garbage is insufficient," said Mr. Ma of the Institute of Public and Environmental
Affairs.

In Indonesia--the world's fourth-most-populous nation--people living along the coast generated about
3.22 million tons of mismanaged plastic waste in 2010, about 10% of the world total. Of that, between
0.48 million and 1.29 million metric tons ended up as marine waste, the researchers estimated.

Government officials in Indonesia said they are working out the details of a 2008 law on waste
management to improve conditions.

"Public awareness is getting better" when it comes to domestic waste, said Ade Palguna Ruteka,
head of the environment ministry's Bureau of Planning and International Cooperation. Regarding
ocean waste, he said, "Indonesia must be concerned about it."

"Waste management is improving" even if "a growing population has meant more waste," said Ilham
Malik, the ministry's deputy minister for hazardous wastes.

Kersten Zhang in Beijing and Ben Otto in Jakarta contributed to this article.

Credit: By Robert Lee Hotz

Subject: Recycling; Studies; Coasts

Location: Arctic region United States--US China Indonesia South Pacific
Company / organization: Name: American Association for the Advancement of Science; NAICS:
813920; Name: University of Georgia; NAICS: 611310
Publication title: Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y.
Pages: n/a
Publication year: 2015
Publication date: Feb 12, 2015
Section: World
Publisher: Dow Jones & Company Inc
Place of publication: New York, N.Y.
Country of publication: United States
Publication subject: Business And Economics
Source type: Newspapers
Language of publication: English
Document type: News
ProQuest document ID: 1654741988
Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1654741988?accountid=49910
Copyright: (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner.
Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Last updated: 2015-03-13
Database: ABI/INFORM Collection
SAN JOSE, California - China dan Indonesia kemungkinan merupakan sumber plastik teratas
yang mencapai samudra, terhitung lebih dari sepertiga botol plastik, tas dan detritus lainnya
dicuci, tim peneliti internasional ilmuwan lingkungan melaporkan pada hari Kamis .

Ahli biologi kelautan dan aktivis laut semakin khawatir tentang plastik seaborne yang
merusak garis pantai dan menyumbat arus dari Arktik ke Pasifik Selatan. Namun jumlah dan
sumber sebenarnya belum diketahui karena kebiasaan konsumen dan praktik pengendalian
pencemaran sangat bervariasi di seluruh dunia.

Dalam sebuah perhitungan baru tentang sampah global, periset di A.S. dan Australia yang
dipimpin oleh Jenna Jambeck, seorang insinyur lingkungan di Universitas Georgia,
menghitung bahwa masing-masing 192 negara telah berkontribusi terhadap sampah plastik
di lautan. Studi mereka didasarkan pada data konsumen dan informasi pengelolaan limbah
yang mencakup populasi pesisir di seluruh dunia. A.S. berada di peringkat 20 oleh perkiraan
para peneliti, yang dianggap bertanggung jawab atas kurang dari 1% limbah plastik yang
salah urus.

Mereka melaporkan perhitungan mereka di jurnal Science pada hari Kamis dan
mempresentasikannya pada pertemuan tahunan Asosiasi Amerika untuk Kemajuan Ilmu
Pengetahuan di sini.

Semua diberitahu, Dr. Jambeck dan rekan-rekannya menghitung bahwa orang-orang yang
tinggal di dalam jarak 50 kilometer (30 mil) dari pantai di negara-negara ini menghasilkan
total 275 juta metrik ton limbah plastik pada tahun 2010. Sebagian kecil tapi signifikan dari
itu - antara 4,8 juta dan 12,7 juta ton botol bekas, tas, sedotan, kemasan dan barang lainnya
- berakhir di samudera dunia.

Dalam dua lusin kapal pesiar sampling sejak tahun 2003, periset lain telah memetakan
reruntuhan puing-puing plastik yang mengambang pada arus laut dan mengukur triliunan
fragmen hampir hampir mikroskopis plastik lapuk yang tersuspensi di perairan di 1.500
lokasi.

Tidak terkendali, jumlah sampah plastik yang mengotori laut bisa berlipat ganda pada 2025,
mencapai tingkat "sama dengan 10 kantong penuh plastik per kaki garis pantai," kata Dr.
Jambeck.

Menurut para peneliti, populasi pesisir China menghasilkan 8,82 juta metrik ton sampah
plastik yang salah urus pada tahun 2010, sekitar 27,7% dari total dunia. Dari jumlah itu,
antara 1,32 juta dan 3,53 juta metrik ton berakhir sebagai puing-puing laut.

Kementerian Perlindungan Lingkungan China menolak berkomentar. Administrasi Oseanik

Negara Bagiannya tidak menanggapi pertanyaan.

Ma Jun, seorang aktivis lingkungan yang berbasis di Beijing, mengatakan bahwa pemerintah
telah memperluas pengumpulan dan perawatan sampah di kota-kota dalam beberapa
tahun terakhir. Supermarket besar telah mengurangi penggunaan kantong plastik atau
mulai mengeluarkan karung biodegradable.
Tapi ekspansi kota yang cepat telah melampaui upaya tersebut, kata Ma. Pemerintah China
"telah berusaha keras untuk mengatasi penolakan rumah tangga, namun dengan pesatnya
perkembangan urbanisasi, kemampuan untuk membuang sampah tidak mencukupi," kata
Ma dari Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Di Indonesia - negara dengan populasi terpadat keempat di dunia - orang-orang yang tinggal
di sepanjang pesisir menghasilkan sekitar 3,22 juta ton sampah plastik yang salah urus pada
tahun 2010, sekitar 10% dari total dunia. Dari jumlah itu, antara 0,48 juta dan 1,29 juta
metrik ton berakhir sebagai limbah laut, para peneliti memperkirakan.

Pejabat pemerintah di Indonesia mengatakan bahwa mereka sedang menyusun rincian

undang-undang pengelolaan limbah tahun 2008 untuk memperbaiki kondisi.

"Kesadaran masyarakat semakin membaik" ketika menyangkut limbah rumah tangga, kata
Ade Palguna Ruteka, kepala Biro Perencanaan Kementerian Lingkungan dan Kerjasama
Internasional. Mengenai limbah laut, katanya, "Indonesia pasti mengkhawatirkannya."

"Pengelolaan limbah membaik" bahkan jika "populasi yang tumbuh berarti lebih banyak
limbah," kata Ilham Malik, wakil menteri menteri untuk limbah berbahaya