Decline Plastic Waste In The North Sea
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Posted on March 1, 2019
The number of plastic bags in the North Sea has declined.
According to researchers from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the number of plastic bags has decreased since 2010. The waste in the North Sea was researched. It was found that the amount of plastic waste is relatively low.
This is due to the introduction of the ban on free plastic bags by several European countries. This ban has ensured that fewer people use plastic bags, which means less plastic waste in the sea. Before the ban on free plastic bags, the consumers and shops used about three billion plastic bags every year.
Plastics form the largest share of waste, it consists of packaging, bags and bottles. It is dangerous for the inhabitants of the sea; fish gets entangled in plastic waste. It also damages the climate and seawater. Moreover, if plastic ends up in the sea, it can take hundreds of years before it is broken down.
Thomas Maes, marine litter scientist at the government's Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), said: “We observed sharp declines in the percentage of plastic bags as captured by fishing nets trawling the seafloor around the UK compared to 2010 and this research suggests that by working together we can reduce, reuse and recycle to tackle the marine litter problem.”
