Page 35 - Plastics News August 2021

INTERNATIoNAL NEwS

Caribbean Nations Find That Anti-Plastic Cities Should Prioritize

Policies Not Enough To Prevent Damage PET, HDPE, PP
Collection says report
he idyllic Caribbean islands are neighbouring Saint Kitts. This impacts
Tbecoming increasingly strewn with every coastline, and Dr Courtene-Jones
plastic pollution caused by the industries said: "This trans-boundary movement study
that fund their economies, a study has undermines the local policies, and really A published
today by the
Global Alliance
for Incinerator
Alternatives,
(GAIA) working
for the cause of
environment
outlines familiar
problems and constraints with the U.S.
plastics recycling system. The GAIA
report looked at Baltimore; Detroit;
Long Beach, California, Minneapolis;
and Newark, N.J. It chose these cities
found. Analysis of samples taken from highlights the need for a much larger because they “currently incinerate their
island coastlines and microplastics in the national, international policy and treaty waste or have recently relied on waste
Caribbean Sea show they originate from to combat plastic pollution. Dr Courtene- incineration, highlighting how burning
the maritime and tourism industries. The Jones said she hopes the study's findings waste undermines successful recycling
all-female crew of scientists on board will influence international solutions and programs,” the group wrote. GAIA
eXXpedition's Round the World voyage result in more joined-up policies between reported that 64% of plastic in the
found flakes of paint from fishing boats, nations. waste stream in the five cities is “not
cigarette lighters and fragments of plastic Emily Penn, eXXpedition's founder, recyclable through municipal recycling
food packaging in their samples. They said has been analysing the samples used in or state redemption programs.” It
the study highlights the need for more the study, which she described as the also quantified challenges with readily
knowledge about plastic pollution across first holistic assessment of marine and recyclable plastics. The study found
all sectors within nations. The study's lead land-based plastic pollution. The idea is that, in the five cities, only 24% of PET,
author, Dr Winnie Courtene-Jones from to drill down into how the micro plastics HDPE and PP was getting recycled,
the University of Plymouth, said: "It makes end up filtering into the oceans, onto the and the remainder was landfilled
it very challenging when tackling the issue. seabed and onto the coastline. A lot of or incinerated. As such, the group
"What we were also finding is that policies what we were doing this year was really wrote that cities “should prioritize
in one country do not necessarily translate trying to understand the chemistry of the collecting only plastic that can be
to less pollution within their waters. "For plastics, that can then help inform where recycled.” The report also highlighted
example in Antigua, they have a Styrofoam those plastics come from. "Because this a lack of available or current data on
polystyrene ban and also a plastic bag soup of microplastic fragments can be municipal waste flows, making it more
ban in place and we found very little of very anonymous, it doesn't sort of have difficult to fix municipal recycling
those items within the street litter, but we a brand label necessarily on it."There are system problems. Here are the key
were still finding those polymers broken 5 trillion microplastics floating on the findings from the report: Lack of data
down into small fragments in the marine ocean's surface. transparency obstructs solutions. Most
environment. "The modelling that we plastic is designed to be dumped or
undertook indicates that these have come Ms Penn said a greater sense of community burned, harming communities. Cities
from elsewhere, other Caribbean nations, comes from a shared understanding of can reduce pollution by banning non-
or even across the Atlantic." Antigua the plastic pollution issue. She said the recyclable plastic. Only 8.8% of all
and Barbuda are among the countries problem is not down to one nation to plastic in the waste stream in the five
that have banned plastic bags, unlike solve. cities is actually recycled.

34 PLASTICS NEWS AUGUST 2021 35 PLASTICS NEWS AUGUST 2021