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Plastic Recycling July 17, 2018 09:30:23 AM

Plastic Products Take Over Top 10 List During International Coastal Cleanup

Waste Advantage
ScrapMonster Author
During the 2017 cleanup, in total, approximately 800,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries collected nearly 20.5 million pounds of trash.

Plastic Products Take Over Top 10 List During International Coastal Cleanup

SEATTLE (Waste 360): On the third Saturday of September, the Ocean Conservancy brings together volunteer groups for the annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). During the 2017 cleanup, in total, approximately 800,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries collected nearly 20.5 million pounds of trash. The results of the cleanup were published in a newly released report called “Building A Clean Swell.”

During the ICC, participants contribute their data to the world’s largest database on marine debris. For each trash item collected, the volunteers log the information on a paper data card or into Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app. The database provides vital information to scientists, conservation groups, governments and industry leaders to help them more closely study ocean trash.

With the data, the Ocean Conservancy hopes to educate and inform policymakers, individuals, organizations and industry leaders about which items are most often recovered from these sites.  

“Hopefully, it starts triggering people to think differently about how either they are using those products in their daily lives or how they are manufacturing those products,” says Nicholas Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program.

On the third Saturday of September, the Ocean Conservancy brings together volunteer groups for the annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). During the 2017 cleanup, in total, approximately 800,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries collected nearly 20.5 million pounds of trash. The results of the cleanup were published in a newly released report called “Building A Clean Swell.”

During the ICC, participants contribute their data to the world’s largest database on marine debris. For each trash item collected, the volunteers log the information on a paper data card or into Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app. The database provides vital information to scientists, conservation groups, governments and industry leaders to help them more closely study ocean trash.

With the data, the Ocean Conservancy hopes to educate and inform policymakers, individuals, organizations and industry leaders about which items are most often recovered from these sites.  

“Hopefully, it starts triggering people to think differently about how either they are using those products in their daily lives or how they are manufacturing those products,” says Nicholas Mallos, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas program.

This year’s data provided a troubling revelation that the problem of plastics pollution has reached a climax.

“The single most unfortunate and significant take away from this year’s report is that for the first time in the 33-year history of the International Coastal Cleanup, all of the items in the top 10 most common items found were made of plastic,” says Mallos.

The top 10 items recovered include:

  1.       Cigarette butts (2,412,151)
  2.       Food wrappers (1,739,743)
  3.       Plastic beverage bottles (1,569,135)
  4.       Plastic bottle caps (1,091,107)
  5.       Plastic grocery bags (757,523)
  6.       Other plastic bags (746,211)
  7.       Straws, stirrers (643,562)
  8.       Plastic take out/away containers (632,874)
  9.       Plastic lids (624,878)
  10.   Foam take out/away containers (580,570)

Courtesy: https://waste360.com

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