Waste Free Waters
Research on the contribution of rivers to the problem of marine debris (river litter)
ID: 734623910785-24
Lobbying Activity
Response to Reducing marine litter: action on single use plastics and fishing gear
18 Dec 2017
L.S.
As with most of the measures to combat littering seas and oceans, there are no wrong measures. Preventing beach littering and derelict fishing gear is always good, but there is an elephant in the room, the river. Rivers are a pathway, transportmedium, from litter on land to litter in seas. Rivers concentrate litter from the entire watershed (in fact the entire European continent) and transport it to the seas in concentrated batches, much like the daily proces of flushing excrements in our toilets. The research of my foundation (Waste Free Waters) indicates that the total yearly quantity of litter is flushed in short waves during high water events.
The rest of the year it is deposited on river banks, subject to solar UV-light and high temperatures, causing the plastics to deteriorate and fragment. A single garbage bag (40 x 60 cm) can fragment into half a million millimeter-size microplastics. The garbage bag can be picked up, the small particles can't.
My suggestion would be to support river bank cleanups as much as possible. In the Netherlands, the Clean River project (www.ivn.nl/schone-rivieren) has found a way to mobilize and organize public to participate in a coordinated manner. More research in riverine transport of litter is necessary and should be better supported.
See also the TGML report: González, D., Hanke,G., Tweehuysen, G., Bellert, B., Holzhauer, M., Palatinus, A., Hohenblum, P., and Oosterbaan, L. 2016 Riverine Litter Monitoring - Options and Recommendations. MSFD GES TG Marine Litter Thematic Report.
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