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US Among Top Contributors to Ocean Plastic Pollution

Asher Jones

   The United States contributes much more to ocean plastic pollution than
   previously estimated, according to a [1]new study.

   "Plastic pollution is '¦ one of the three major threats to the future
   health of the oceans," said George Leonard, chief scientist at Ocean
   Conservancy and a co-author of the study. "Plastics are basically
   finding their way into the entirety of the marine food web --
   everything from the smallest phytoplankton at the base of the food web
   right up through the fish that we eat to the largest marine mammals and
   seabirds and sea turtles."

   The U.S. generated a staggering 42 million metric tons of plastic waste
   in 2016 -- more than any other country in the world, according to the
   analysis.

   Up to 2.2 million metric tons of this waste ended up in the ocean. If
   piled on the White House lawn, it "would soar as high as the Empire
   State Building," said Leonard.

   A [2]previous studyby the same research group ranked the U.S. as the
   20th-biggest contributor to ocean plastic, but they considered
   littering the sole source of this pollution. Including two other
   sources of pollution -- illegal dumping and waste that's shipped abroad
   for recycling, but ultimately ends up in the environment -- the new
   study boosts the U.S. to third place for worst plastic-polluting
   nations.

   "This paper is really good because it puts the U.S. back at the top of
   the list and says 'Hey, wait, the U.S. is a major source of plastic
   pollution,'" said Jan Dell, chemical engineer and founder of The Last
   Beach Cleanup, who did not contribute to the research.

References

   1. https://advances.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abd0288
   2. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6223/768

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