The problem of marine plastic waste pollution is becoming more and more serious, and the management of marine pollution is a long-lasting project that requires the joint participation of governments, enterprises and the public to continuously increase prevention and control efforts, as well as to raise public awareness of environmental protection and accelerate the development of a circular economy.
A recent report by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) said that the first global assessment of total seabed microplastic pollution completed by the agency shows that there are about 14 million tons of microplastic pollutants in the global deep sea, more than twice the total amount of plastic pollution on the surface of the ocean. According to UN statistics, it is estimated that at least 8 million tons of plastics are discharged or discarded into the oceans each year, which is equivalent to an average of one truckload of plastic waste being dumped into the sea every second.
Plastic waste entering the ocean is broken down into microscopic fragments, which are then ingested by plankton and ultimately pose a threat to the marine ecological chain and even human health. The area of microplastics currently floating in the Pacific Garbage Patch is even millions of square kilometers. Scientists estimate that 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed every year as a result. The economic damage to countries caused by marine plastic pollution could be as high as $8 billion.
The European Environment Agency's assessment of the environmental quality of 1.48 million square kilometers of sea area in the European region found that 1.18 million square kilometers of sea area have varying degrees of pollution problems, of which plastic garbage accounts for nearly 90% of the total amount of marine garbage. A study conducted by experts on the marine environment from the Netherlands and Belgium shows that 16 per cent of the Mediterranean Sea's surface area currently contains microplastics at levels exceeding safety standards, with some areas exceeding those standards by a factor of five or more. If pollution is not effectively controlled, by 2100, 69 per cent of the surface of the Mediterranean Sea will no longer be suitable for the survival of marine life.
