Global plastic pollution observation system to aid policy
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges and has received commensurate widespread attention. Although it is a top priority for policymakers and scientists alike, the knowledge required to guide decisions, implement mitigation actions, and assess their outcomes remains inadequate. We argue that an integrated, global monitoring system for plastic pollution is needed to provide comprehensive, harmonized data for environmental, societal, and economic assessments. The initial focus on marine ecosystems has been expanded here to include atmospheric transport and terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. An earth-system-level plastic observation system is proposed as a hub for collecting and assessing the scale and impacts of plastic pollution across a wide array of particle sizes and ecosystems including air, land, water, and biota and to monitor progress toward ameliorating this problem. The proposed observation system strives to integrate new information and to identify pollution hotspots (i.e., production facilities, cities, roads, ports, etc.) and expands monitoring from marine environments to encompass all ecosystem types. Eventually, such a system will deliver knowledge to support public policy and corporate contributions to the relevant United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Date Issued
2021-06-15
Date Acceptance
2021-05-01
Citation
Environmental Science and Technology, 2021, 55 (12), pp.7770-7775
ISSN
0013-936X
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
7770
End Page
7775
Journal / Book Title
Environmental Science and Technology
Volume
55
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 .
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34027665
Subjects
ecosystem
Engineering
Engineering, Environmental
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
MICROPLASTICS
monitoring
pollution
public policy
reporting plastic waste
Science & Technology
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2021-05-24