US Urged to Cut Plastic Production to Save Oceans

According to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the United States must act swiftly to curb plastic waste in oceans by developing a comprehensive national strategy that includes reducing plastic production.

The NAS, an independent body of scientists established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, found that the amount of plastic flowing into the ocean worldwide is equivalent to dumping a garbage truck of plastic in the water every minute. And while only 4.3 percent of Earth’s population resides in the US, by 2016, it was the top generator of plastic waste at 42 million metric tons that year, exceeding all of Europe combined.

The report urges the US to establish “a coherent and crosscutting federal research and policy strategy” to slash plastic waste, developed by a group of experts or external advisory body by the end of 2022, with implementation by the end of 2025. Report authors warn that global plastic production increased nearly 20-fold from 1966 to 2015, and at the current trajectory, the amount of plastic discharged into the ocean could climb from 8 million metric tons to 53 million metric tons per year by 2030, roughly half the total weight of ocean fish caught annually.

According to the authors, today’s recycling processes remain “grossly insufficient,” and improved data collection is key to understanding sources and patterns associated with plastic waste. They advise NOAA to conduct a national shoreline survey every five years, and prompt the US to substantially reduce its solidwaste generation and design materials with an “end-of-life strategy that strives to retain resource value.”