Policies to strengthen land-based waste management need better implementation, say experts
Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has launched a coalition of coastal cities to fight marine litter pollution across India.
The Coalition of Coastal Cities to Combat Marine Litter was launched on April 19, 2023 at a workshop organised and spearheaded by CSE.
“The problem of marine litter is a serious trans-boundary issue. India, with a coastline of more than 7,000 kilometres, has a role to play in controlling this menace,” said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE, in her keynote address at the two-day national consultation workshop, concluded here today.
Also read: Plastic waste woes: A primer on India’s marine litter problem
About 80 per cent of marine litter comes from land-based mismanagement of solid waste that reaches the ocean bed through various land-to-sea pathways. The remaining 20 per cent is contributed by coastal settlements, according to global research estimates.
Plastic accounts for 90 per cent of all the waste that ends up in the marine ecosystem.
Of the 460 million tonnes (MT) of global plastic production, nearly 353 MT comes back as plastic waste — 8 MT (2.26 per cent) of which is leaked into the marine ecosystem, Narain pointed out.
“The extent of the litter in South Asian seas is a matter of particular concern. Estimates indicates that about 15,434 tonnes of plastic waste is leaked into South Asian seas everyday, accounting for a colossal 5.6 MT of plastic waste a year,” said Atin Biswas, programme director, solid waste management unit, CSE.
In India, the estimated extent of marine litter is about 0.98 metric tonnes of trash per km stretch of the coastline, with a concentration of 0.012 kg per square metre, said Siddharth G Singh, programme manager, solid waste management unit, CSE.
“Tributaries of major Indian rivers carry around 15-20 per cent of plastic waste into the marine environment,” he added.
India’s 7,517 km coastline across nine states and 66 coastal districts is home to about 250 million people. India is the world’s second-largest fish-producing country, with about 250,000 fishing boats, 4000,000 fisherfolk and 3,600 fishing villages. India’s coastline also has a rich biodiversity, protected by about 4,120 km stretch of mangroves.
Also read: Extreme weather events in India may be transporting more plastic litter into oceans, warn experts
One of the key challenges faced by the global marine ecosystem is abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). A large part of ALDFG is lost in deep seas, making it difficult to recover. India loses 15,276 tonnes of gillnets annually, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Biswas told DTE:
In 2021, 58,000 kg of ghost nets was recovered from the beaches and the ocean bed. The scale of the threat can be gauged from the fact that out of 1,000 eggs laid by a female turtle, only 10 are able to convert into adult turtles because of marine litter and ghost nets.
Another significant source of marine litter is tourism. Most of the waste from beaches comprises multi-layered and low-value plastics, polystyrene, plastic products like cutlery and carry bags and cigarette butts.
These waste products are either not collected or are mismanaged. They eventually leak into the oceans through the stormwater drainage system, canals and small and big rivers. A large amount of footwear waste comprising soles, synthetic bases and cloth bases is also found in India’s marine litter, the non-profit said in a press release.
The other contributors to marine litter include flood waters, discharge of untreated municipal sewage, automobile and industrial waste generated at the coasts and waste from shipbreaking yards.
“Since the problem has strong connections with the management of plastic waste on land, policies like the single-use plastic ban and extended producer responsibility need to be enforced stringently,” said Singh.
The workshop was attended by representatives from state and city administrations from coastal states, marine research institutes, multi-lateral institutes working in India and abroad, non-profits, industry and technology solution providers, academicians, start-ups and individual practitioners and experts.
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One of the key challenges faced by the global marine ecosystem is abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear. Representative photo: iStock..png)
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