Plasticus Mare Balticum a Synthesized Collection of Five Independent Research Reports on Plastic Pollution in the Baltic Sea
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Plasticus Mare Balticum A synthesized collection of five independent research reports on plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea James Workman Plasticus Mare Balticum A synthesized collection of five independent research reports on plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea James Workman The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN. This publication has been made possible in part by funding from Svenska Postkod Lotterie and the technical support of Coalition Clean Baltic. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland Copyright: © 2020 IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: J. Workman (2020). Plasticus Mare Balticum. A synthesized collection of five independent research reports on plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. viii+78 pp. Editor: Joao Sousa Cover and drawings: Graça Lagrifa Layout by: Imre Sebestyén, jr. / Unit Graphics Available from: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Rue Mauverney 28 1196 Gland Switzerland Tel +41 22 999 0000 Fax +41 22 999 0002 [email protected] www.iucn.org/resources/publications Table of contents Executive summary. vi Part I Polymer precedents: the Baltic Sea offers a geopolitical framework for solving plastic leakage . 2 Petroleum parallels. .3 Useful distinctions. 4 An unlikely role model. .5 Part II Qualifying causes: subtle sources of Baltic Sea microplastics . 8 The loss of synthetic salvation. .8 River vectors as carriers . 9 Complex and complicated origins . 10 Road runoff in the ground transport industry. .10 Synthetic clothing in the textile industry . .12 Hygiene in the personal care industry . 14 Fishing gear in the commercial seafood industry . .15 Raw pellets and marine paint in the distant ocean shipping industry . 16 Consumer waste in the product packaging industry . .17 Geospatial emphasis . .17 Part III Quantifying causal linkages: the marine ‘plastic footprint’ by item, industry and country . 22 Circle versus cycle?. 24 The materiality of plastic. 25 A metric to fix the plastic leak?. 26 From loss to leakage . 27 Modeling fate . 27 The textile industry. 28 The bottling industry: Glass or plastic?. 29 The Baltic Basin. 31 Outlook . 33 Part IV Habitat consequences: microplastics embedded in Baltic Sea ice . 38 Polar plastic’s potential power . 38 Compound consequences . 39 Manitoba microcosms. 40 Validation in the wild . 41 Part V Biodiversity consequences: polymer impacts on Baltic species. 44 Macrophytes. 45 Benthic invertebrates . 46 Crangon crangon . 47 Fish and lamprey species . 48 Baltic breeding and wintering birds. 49 Mammals. 50 Looking ahead. 52 Plasticus Mare Balticum iii Part VI Private collective action: the Baltic Sea business response. 56 Private sector priorities. .57 What motivates businesses to act on the root causes of plastic pollution? . 58 Incentives for innovation. 58 Next steps. 60 Part VII Public collective action: harmonizing policy, governance and investment . .64 Global to local governance policies. 65 Harmonic convergence. 65 1. Targets and strategies. 66 2. Policies tackling plastic production and use impacting the oceans . 67 3. Policies tackling plastic waste disposal entering the oceans. 68 4. Policies tackling marine plastic waste already in the oceans . 69 Russia’s policy context. 69 Alignment with European policy recommendations. 70 A way forward. 70 Conclusion . .71 References. ..