More Plastic Than Fish By 2050?

2016 brought us the shocking news that there could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. So 8 years on, how is the situation looking? Well the good news is, this figure has proved to be a problematic guessestimate at best (there are a lot more fish in the sea than previously thought), the bad news is, this doesn’t mean the plastic problem went away. Alas, 8 years down the line and we’re still discarding millions of tonnes worth of plastic waste into the ocean every year, marine life may not be outweighed by plastic but it certainly is being weighed down by the burden.

What Does Plastic Do To Marine Life?

By now, many of us will be familiar with the heart wrenching images of birds, turtles and fish washed up on our beaches with stomachfulls of plastic, it’s common for animals to mistake the tiny, colourful fragments for their prey. For 22% of sea turtles, consuming just one piece of plastic is enough to kill; sharp fragments can damage internal organs and plastic bags can block their digestive systems, the turtles end up dying from internal bleeding and/or starvation. It’s a similar story for sea birds. An investigation into the bird populations of Lord Howe Island, in the Tasman sea, found that 90% of bird carcasses had plastic in their digestive tracts. Plastic is doing damage, even in the most remote places.

But larger plastic pieces aren’t the only problem, marine life, particularly fish, also ingest mouthfuls of microplastics as they swim through the open sea. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic less than a micrometre wide, that’s smaller than the width of a human hair! Microplastics are so small in fact, that they can pass from blood into biological tissue, it’s no wonder that 3 out of 4 fish off the coast of Australia and New Zealand contain microplastics in their edible flesh! Evidence suggests that microplastic consumption in fish leads to reduced body weight, abnormal behaviour and inefficient lipid metabolism. But let’s not forget that fish make up a significant portion of the human diet, people therefore inherit a lot of microplastic contaminants through their food. Want to know the implications of microplastics for human health? Read our ‘Plastic is Personal’ article here.

Coral reefs are another victim of plastic pollution. When coral is damaged by plastic debris, it’s more vulnerable to diseases, 20 times more vulnerable to be exact. This happens for a few reasons: harmful bacteria use plastic debris to piggyback their way onto the coral, essential sunlight and oxygen can be blocked by plastic debris to cause suffocation, and toxins can become trapped in the coral to cause tissue death. Plastic waste is thought to be a significant contributor to dying coral reefs.

Zooming in deeper still, some research suggests oceanic plastic is even influencing the climate. By affecting the efficiency of photosynthesis in phytoplankton and reducing feeding rates in zooplankton, microplastics both reduce the amount of oxygen going into the atmosphere and carbon dioxide coming out of the atmosphere. In other words, plastic waste might be exacerbating the greenhouse effect associated with climate change!

So although plastic isn’t going to outweigh fish by 2050, it might well be inside every fish by 2050. It’s therefore critical that we work towards sustainable and effective efforts that stop plastic from getting into the open sea.

Don’t let our waste go to waste!

One of these tactics is by putting a value marker on our waste. Right now plastic is being seen as such – waste. But to us it’s a valuable resource. If we can STOP virgin plastic production (created from damaging fossil fuel) we will create demand for plastic that can be recycled infinitely. Meaning we can put all our plastic waste to good use and mitigate the risk of our waste ending up in our oceans. Why haven't we already been doing this you ask? That's because our traditional recycling system is broken. Amongst many other issues, traditional recycling deteriorates the product, meaning many industries can’t use it and have therefore become reliant on virgin plastic. But with our technology this all changes. If you would like to know how Samsara Eco’s enzymatic technology achieves this, read our Traditional Recycling = Downcycling article here.