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October 01, 2015 02:00 AM

Report puts cost of ocean plastic cleanup at $5 billion

Gayle S. Putrich
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    The Ocean Conservancy
    The Ocean Conservancy's plan to clean up the oceans begins with stopping the flow of plastic trash from the land.

    WASHINGTON — That there are literally tons of plastic in the world's oceans is hardly new information, especially to the plastics industry. But now there is finally an in-depth examination of where it originates and how it ends up in the water — and an actionable plan to stop the flow of plastic trash into the oceans by 2035.

    A new Ocean Conservancy report, Stemming the Tide: Land-Based Strategies for a Plastic-Free Ocean, identifies the location-specific origins of most of the world's plastic marine debris and how it leaks into the oceans as well as outlines of practical solutions, their relevant economics, and short- and long-term plans for implementation in five priority countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

    “Today's report, for the first time, outlines a specific path forward for the reduction, and ultimate elimination, of plastic waste in the oceans,” said Ocean Conservancy CEO Andreas Merkl. “The report's findings confirm what many have long thought — that ocean plastic solutions actually begin on land. It will take a coordinated effort of industry, [non-governmental organizations] and government to solve this growing economic and environmental problem.”

    The report, released Sept. 30, was a multi-year effort of the Washington-based non-profit advocacy group in partnership with the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment and Trash Free Seas Alliance partners including Dow Chemical Co., Coca-Cola Co. and the American Chemistry Council.

    Experts estimate 8 million tons of plastic “leaks” out of the waste system and into the watershed each year, according to the report, most coming from industrializing countries in Asia.

    “These are countries where the consumption of plastic is skyrocketing and waste management is not keeping up,” Merkl said.

    The report proposes a five-point solution to cutting the “leakage” from land-based sources by 45 percent by 2025 with the ultimate goal of eliminating it by 2035. The cost of meeting those goals are estimated to be about $5 billion annually, according to the report, but significant returns to the global economy are possible once the proper infrastructure is in place.

    Proposed solutions include expanded service collection and ultimately increased waste collection rates; closing leakage points within the collection systems of all five countries, including targeting illegal dumping and containing legal open dump sites; implementing the latest waste-to-energy programs such as gasification or incineration with energy recovery; and improving systems to manually sort waste to extract high-value plastics for recycling and convert a significant portion of low-value plastic to refuse-derived fuel.

    While the problem of marine plastics may still sound tremendously huge, some industry leaders see the new report as actually lifting some of the weight of this global problem.

    Michael A. Marcotte
    Steve Russell of the American Chemistry Council, during NPE 2015.

    “We're really excited about this work. This quantifies the problem and identifies solutions,” said Jeff Wooster, global sustainability director for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “It answers the questions of ‘Where is it coming from and what can we do to keep it out of the oceans?'”

    The next hurdle is implementation, namely, funding it. Private investment is needed to build waste management systems, and while the report's authors at McKinsey called the comparatively low $5 billion price tag “one of the most solvable of the environmental challenges we collectively face,” it still has to come from somewhere.

    Merkl says one of the many advantages of the depth of the new report is that the amount of infrastructure is defined, as are the future locations for waste management facilities that will stop plastics from reaching the ocean.

    “The next step now is to get to work in the places that really, really matter and create the conditions to make waste management investment attractive. We need to create investment space, encourage the politics and policies that create investment incentives, pull together classically structured finance, bring together international expertise and local enthusiasm,” Merkl said. “We're not asking anyone to ban products. We don't think that's effective. It's not an imposition of Western product bans, it's a way to help accelerate existing local demand … it's sort of the opposite of colonial control.”

    Local enthusiasm for tackling this global problem is already growing, said ACC's Vice President of Plastics Steve Russell.

    “There is actually a hunger for solutions in these communities,” said Russell, who has attended meetings for mayors and regional leaders in the Philippines as data was being gathered for the report. “[The mayors] know they have a problem, none of them want to live in a place where solid waste isn't properly managed.

    “There is a surprisingly enthusiastic interest in what tools might be available, especially when the solutions are economically sustainable.”

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