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RUNNING HEAD: PLASTIC CONSUMPTION, IMPACT ON FRESHWATER 0
ECOSYSTEMS, AND MITIGATION METHODS
Plastic Consumption, Impact on Freshwater Ecosystems, and Mitigation Methods
Linhao Xiong
University of California-Santa Cruz
Freshwater ecosystems, such as rivers and lakes, are vulnerable to the effects of human behavior. In particular, the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater environments needs to be examined. According to Blettler and Wantzen (2018), plastic pollution on freshwater environments is drastically underestimated, which is a critical issue for people trying to mitigate it for multiple reasons. The first reason is that plastic pollution is directly correlated to plastic consumption, and both have rapidly increased in the past few decades. Secondly, freshwater bodies act as mediums for the transport of plastic waste from the land to the ocean. Third, plastic pollution is especially persistent, and its effects on both the environment and the economy is difficult to assess and address. Therefore, there are only two available options for reducing plastic pollution. The first is to reduce the consumption of plastic-heavy products. The second is to encourage the reusing and recycling of plastic products, such as bottles. A potential alternative is to discover new ways to permanently dispose or degrade plastic waste. Plastic pollution is a rapidly escalating problem that has wide-ranging effects on the earth and on human society, and thus we need to both increase our commitment to reducing it and find new ways to remove it.
To expound on the first reason, plastic pollution surges when plastic consumption rises, and both have rapidly increased in the past few decades. For example, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (2019), the total amount of plastics that was thrown as municipal solid waste went from 34,870 thousand tons in 2016 to 35,370 thousand tons in 2017 (p. 1). This means that plastic waste comprises 13.2% of all waste generated in the United States, a shocking figure considering that in 1960 it composed only 390 thousand tons, or 0.4% of all municipal waste (EPA, 2019, p. 1). As early as 1987, Senator John H. Chafee, in his opening statement on the hearings before the US Congressional Subcommittee on Environment and Public Works, noted that each individual sailor taking a round-the-world sailing trip that lasted 30 days had managed to accumulate three large garbage bags full of plastic waste (p. 2). That figure could only have gotten much larger for today’s citizen who has access to all the conveniences and multiple plastics packaging. We can thus conclude that the amount of plastic that Americans have consumed, and subsequently thrown away, has rapidly increased since the 1960s.
The vast majority of plastic waste originates on land, particularly near centers of human settlement. This is confirmed by Cable et al. (2017), who found that human-caused, or anthropogenic, plastic debris is transported via the Great Lakes to the ocean (p. 2). They also found that the concentration of plastic waste was highest near urban centers (Cable et al., 2017, p. 6). Lechner et al. (2014) found similar results when they studied the Danube, which is the second largest river in Europe. Most disturbingly, they found that not only were small fish mistaking plastic particles for food, but also that there was more plastic waste than fish larva in the Danube (Lechner et al., 2014, p. 179). This has alarming implications not only for the viability of the fish population in the river, but also for the volume of plastic in the river’s waters. This is a problem because river waters eventually end up in oceans. This means that the plastic waste that originates in human settlements, such as urban centers, are transported by freshwater systems such as rivers and lakes towards the oceans, resulting in marine plastic pollution.
One of the problems why plastic pollution is so insidious is that its impact, especially on freshwater environments, are both difficult to address and difficult to assess. Blettler et al. (2018) noted that the vast majority of plastic water pollution studies focused only on marine environments, and only 13% examined freshwater environments (p. 418) An additional layer of complication, according to Blettler et al., is that the studies exclusively focus on a certain size-range of plastic debris, but there is no standardized definition of what is a microplastic debris, versus what is macro- or mesoplastic debris (2018, p. 421). We will thus have to use either incomplete studies or analog studies to examine the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater. One of the ways that the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater environments can be evaluated is by examining its effects on the freshwater wildlife. Thus, it is disturbing to see that according to Holland, Mallory, & Shutler (2016), 55% of all the freshwater bird species they examined had ingested plastic debris (p. 255). It is additionally problematic that they predict that this trend will increase over time, as plastic debris consumption can lead to nutritional deficiency, weakness, false feeling of fullness, internal bleeding, stomach lining irritation, ulcers, and starvation in birds (Holland, Mallory & Shutler, 2016, p. 252). Another way to examine the economic impact of plastic pollution is by examining the impact on both marine and land environments. For example, Garcia & Robertson (2017) claim that $8.3 billion worth of plastic waste is thrown in American landfills annually (p. 870). They also point out that recycling plastics “can save up to ~130 million kJ” and save up to $176 billion dollars (Garcia & Robertson, 2017, p. 870-871). Sivan (2011) also points out that the durability of plastic causes it to accumulate in marine environments (p. 422). We can draw similar conclusions of its impact on freshwater environment, since freshwater bodies connect to both marine and land environments. Therefore, plastic waste is a persistent, long-lasting threat to freshwater life that might be currently underestimated due to the current methods used for examining pollution.
Based on all our findings regarding the amount of plastic waste generated by humans every year, and how persistent it is once it reaches the environment, it is critically important that consumption of plastic is reduced. For example, Funaki (2006) found that 30% of plastic shopping bags that Japanese households receive are thrown out without being used. Hundertmark et al. (2019) note that 16 million tons of plastic thrown out every year by American households were packaging or food-service related, and typically have only a single use. This means that simply changing the way consumers treat plastic products can have a huge impact on how much plastic waste is generated, and how much ultimately ends up in freshwater ecosystems. As an example, Ohtomo & Ohnuma (2012) found that a weeklong program encouraging shoppers to use fewer plastic bags resulted in up to 25% more shoppers choosing to not use plastic bags (p. 64). Other possible ways to reduce plastic consumption is by charging for plastic bags, as well as programs to encourage reuse of single-use plastics. Changing consumers’ behavior towards plastic bags and packaging can have a profound impact on the amount of plastic that gets thrown out, and ultimately ends up in freshwater environments.
Recycling plastic products, such as bottles, is an important measure to take as well. In 2017, plastic bottles accounted for 3,730 thousand tons of municipal solid waste (EPA, 2019). However, plastic bottles are also the most likely to get recycled, with 29.1% of PET bottles and 31.2% of HDPE bottles getting recycled, meaning 1,100 thousand tons of plastic bottles was recycled in 2017 (EPA, 2019). However, according to Garcia & Robertson (2017), only 8.8% of all plastic produced annually in the United States is recovered (p. 871). Part of the reason is that non-PET plastics are extremely difficult to recycle. Thankfully, new technologies are now being explored that can address this problem. Garcia & Robertson (2017) note that there are potential in new techniques that can result in higher quality recycled plastic, more efficient techniques that can ignore contamination of plastic waste, and chemical methods that allow the efficient breakdown and reassembly of plastic compounds (p. 871). Any increase in the miniscule percentage of plastic that gets recovered instead of being thrown out can have a large effect on the total amount of plastic waste in the environment.
Plastic is extremely durable and persistent. This property can have negative effects when plastic ends up in the environment. For example, plastic waste from decades ago can still be found in certain environments (Blattler et al., 2017). It can also mean that plastic waste that gets consumed by animals can get continually passed on and keep harming other animals. For example, in freshwater environments Holland, Mallory & Shutler (2016) found that fish can end up consuming plastic debris, receive internal and physiological injuries as a result, and then those same fish can end up getting eaten by birds , larger fish, and other predators, and have the plastic debris cause the same effects on those predators (p. 252). We can thus see that plastic waste can be a persistent problem for freshwater environments, and can travel up the food chain.
There are many potential solutions to plastic waste aside from plastic usage reduction, reuse, and recycling, one of which is the usage of bacteria that can consume plastic. Sivan (2011) found that there actually are microbial lifeforms that can degrade plastic, once it is exposed to water and ultraviolet light. This means that it can be quite possible to introduce microbes that can degrade plastic waste to either freshwater environments or at channels where plastic waste ends up in freshwater. The alternative is that the current formula of plastic can itself be tweaked to make it easier to biodegrade under the right conditions (Sardon & Dove, 2018). Biochemical solutions to address plastic pollution have great potential and need to be explored.
The vulnerability of freshwater ecosystems to plastic waste cannot be overstated, yet it is currently underestimated. For one thing, Americans’ consumption of plastic products, particularly plastic packaging, has dramatically escalated since the 1960s. Additionally, the proximity of freshwater bodies to human settlements, particularly urban centers, means that they end up receiving a lot of the plastic waste that eventually gets transported to marine environments (Cable et al., 2017). This is further compounded by the lack of scientific studies that adequately measure the impact of plastic pollution on freshwater environments. To solve these issues, plastic waste needs to be reduced though such methods as changing consumer attitudes and behavior towards plastic packaging. Governments can also embrace initiatives to encourage more recycling. Finally, scientific endeavors that can increase the degradability of plastic must be explored by either developing microbes that eat plastic, or changing the formula of plastic to be more disposable, will address one of the biggest issues with plastic waste, which is its persistence in the environment. Embracing one or more of these methods can have profound environmental and economic benefits for all and help protect our freshwater environments.
References
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Blettler, M.C.M., Abrial, E., Khan, F.R., Sivri, N., & Espinola, L.A. (2018, June 28) Freshwater plastic pollution: Recognizing research biases and identifying knowledge gaps. Water Research, 143(2018), 416-424, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2018.06.015
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Garcia, J.M., & Robertson, M.L. (2017, November 17). The Future of Plastics Recycling. Science, 358(6365), 870-872.
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Lechner, A., Keckeis, H., Lumesberger-Loisl, F., Zens, B., Krusch, R., Tritthart, M., Glas, M., & Schludermann, E. (2014). The Danube so colourful: A potpourri of plastic litter outnumbers fish larvae in Europe’s second largest river. Environmental Pollution, 188(2014), 177-181, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.02.006
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