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Plastic Soup: Mapping the First Steps Towards Solutions

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Plastic Soup: Mapping the First Steps Towards Solutions Plastic Soup: Mapping the first steps towards solutions Plastic Soup ID 630 Function Name WUR reg. Nr: Manager: Bart de Vreede 870530-910-080 Secretary: Anne Zeddeman 831105-984-020 Controller: Vena Adamczyk 820927-005-080 Team member: Ines Brito 750425-167-050 Team member: Kenny Aberson 830624-004-080 Team member: Liset Meddens 860322-549-060 Team member: Muriel Denayer 870306-178-040 Commissioner: Joep Koene, Oost NV Coach: Aleid Dik Expert: Gábor Szántó April 2010 Copyright © 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, without the prior consent of the authors. This report (product) is produced by students of Wageningen University as part of their MSc-programme. It is not an official publication of Wageningen University or Wageningen UR and the content herein does not represent any formal position or representation by Wageningen University. Further contact with the authors and experts in various fields can be achieved via the “Platform Plastic Soup” on LinkedIn. Visit http://www.linkedin.com/ and search for Platform Plastic Soup within Groups. 2 Executive summary Plastic has endless possibilities and it is used in increasing array of products. Discarded plastic is persistent to degradation and therefore has a devastating impact on ecosystems. Of great concern is the accumulation of plastics in the centre of the gyres of the oceans, an accumulation area called the plastic soup. Since the discovery of the plastic soup in the Pacific ocean in 1997, the issues has been studied in multidisciplinary areas and gained considerable international exposure. However, given the early stage of the research surrounding this plastic soup, knowledge about its impact, possible solutions for a clean up, and strategies to involve the international community are still scarce and unstructured. Joep Koene (Oost NV) has commissioned an ACT project of the University of Wageningen to contribute to a more systematic organization of the existing knowledge on the plastic soup and to outline possible solutions. The team has provided back office support to two Dutch business delegates on board the scientific ship following Darwin’s Beagle route. An extensive literature review was conducted to support the creative thinking process of these two gentlemen in finding possible solutions. Several experts and stakeholders were consulted during the course of the project. Both literature review and the expert interviews reveal that the clean up of the ocean gyres is not an option at the moment. The focus should be on prevention and cleaning coastal areas. To come to a solution, recommendations following from this project are to raise awareness, to implement smart product design, to improve waste management, and to extent research and monitoring. A well designed legal framework is another prerequisite. Also, implementation of taxes and fees is needed to provide funds for initiatives. A key issue in raising awareness is the development of a plastic footprint. Research on qualification and quantification of the effects and sources of plastic in marine environment should be investigated in further detail. To convince the international community of the urgency of the problem the effects for society should also be mapped in monetary terms. The second goal of the project was to design a web portal that systematically presents all the knowledge and initiatives on the plastic soup. The aim of this portal is to raise awareness and to motivate visitors to join the initiatives that can contribute to a solution. The proposed design has a user friendly interface, as well as a networking part where experts come together and start up initiatives. To ensure the portal becomes well known, it is proposed to anchor the portal to the successful book of Jesse Goossens, the Plastic Soup. 3 Content SECTION 1: Beagle back office Introduction................................................................................................................6 1. Plastic Soup.........................................................................................................10 1.1 Vertical concentration profile ..........................................................................11 1.2 Causes...........................................................................................................12 1.2.1 Waste treatment......................................................................................12 1.2.2 Responsibility and legislation ..................................................................13 1.2.3 Monitoring and Implementation of Marine Regimes.................................14 2. Consequences.....................................................................................................15 2.1 Larger Plastic pieces......................................................................................15 2.1.1 Entanglement..........................................................................................15 2.1.2 Ingestion .................................................................................................15 2.1.3 Dispersal of invasive species ..................................................................16 2.1.4 Sunken plastic pieces..............................................................................16 2.2 Smaller Plastic Particles.................................................................................16 2.3 Release of chemicals in plastics and their impact...........................................17 2.3.1 Impact on marine organisms ...................................................................17 2.3.2 Impact on human health..........................................................................18 3. Solutions..............................................................................................................19 3.1 Clean up ........................................................................................................19 3.1.1 Ocean Area.............................................................................................19 3.1.2 Coastal Area ...........................................................................................20 3.2 Prevention......................................................................................................21 3.2.1 Product design ........................................................................................21 3.2.2 Waste management ................................................................................22 3.2.3 Recycling ................................................................................................23 3.3 Prerequisites..................................................................................................24 3.3.1 Monitoring and research..........................................................................24 3.3.2 Awareness ..............................................................................................25 3.3.3 Plastic Footprint ......................................................................................26 3.3.4 Funding...................................................................................................27 3.3.5 International Legislation ..........................................................................28 4. Discussion ...........................................................................................................30 5. Conclusion...........................................................................................................34 6. Recommendations...............................................................................................35 4 SECTION 2: Blueprint Web portal 1. Informing..............................................................................................................40 2. Motivating ............................................................................................................41 3. Possible concepts................................................................................................42 Portal Concept 1: Zoom levels .........................................................................42 Portal Concept 2: Cross Section ......................................................................42 Portal Concept 3: Network ...............................................................................42 Portal Concept 4: Gate.....................................................................................43 Portal Concept 5: Gyre.....................................................................................43 Portal Concept 6: Basic....................................................................................43 Portal Concept 7: Carrousel .............................................................................43 Portal Concept 8: Bigger Picture ......................................................................43 Portal Concept 9: Plastic Soup.........................................................................43 Portal Concept 10: Various ..............................................................................43 4. Continuity of the project .......................................................................................44 4.1 Coordination: low vs. high involvement ..........................................................44 4.2 Ownership......................................................................................................44 4.3 Anchoring the web portal to
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