Oceans receive huge amounts of plastic garbage Global plastics production doubles every tenth year. Oceanic garbage patches are larger in size than the area of Finland One third of all the plastic GARBAGE PATC produced globally is meant for packaging. A major part of this NOR NORT INDI SOUT SOU biodegradable ones. Use T PATC TIC Ask for your local shopkeeper OCEA AN TLAN A Global plastics production fabric. Do not take along disposable coffee cup's plastic European plastics consumption 2015 300 Mt Other (e.g. domestic appliances & buy and use. furniture) Source: Plastics Europe PEMRG (2011) cover. Recycle all plastic you 1 Mt = 1 000 000 000 kg 200 Mt 100 Mt 0 1950 1970 1990 2010 Agriculture Electronics 21,5 % 4,2 % 5,8 % 49 Mt 39,9 % 8,9 % Car 19,7 % Packaging Construction Source: PlasticsEurope shopping bags made from ATC NP to change plastic fruitbags to T garbage into the oceanic gyres. T oceanic currents transport Patch that is two times Finland's area in size. TLAN A PATC TIC introduced into the sea, NOR share is for single-use. Once
MARINE LITTER Plastic litter ends up in marine animals If nothing is done, in 2025 there will be one kg of plastic per three kg of fish in the oceans. Items found Plastic litter ends up Marine animals get tangled with plastic litter, and litter items may block animal's alimentary canal. Plastic litter also contains harmful substances. inside marine inside sea birds and animals marine mammals either unintentionally or by animal's search for nutrition. PLAST I C LI T T E R T R AV E L F R O M A N A NI MA L TO A NOT E R Large pieces of plastic litter fractionate into smaller pieces of such a size class that they are able to Most typical causes of death 1. enter planktonic animals. Litter items block the alimentary canal. Animal starves to death or suffocates. 2. Animal gets tangled to litter, loses its ability to swim or fly, and starves to death or gets caught. 3. Sharp plastic litter ruptures the alimentary canal. ENTAN G L EM EN T Globally, plastic litter causes the death of Abandoned or discarded 1 000 000 sea birds and 100 000 marine fishing nets that keep on mammals every year. catching fish for years to come. Source: SYKE G O ST NE TS
MARINE LITTER Plastic litter in the beach is mainly an aesthetic nuisance for people, but in the sea it turns into a real problem for animals. Plastic litter decomposes extremely slowly, and degrades into smaller and more harmful microplastics. Do not leave your garbage on the beaches. Do not leave trash Shores are littered in elsinki Beach litter study TOP beach litter types in the Gulf of Finland Amount items within a 100-m beach strip in 2014 (2012-2013) 1. KOT K A 160 pieces Foamed plastic (insu- ELSIN KI lation and packaging) 2....of which 80 % Plastic bags 3. 570 pieces Bottle caps and lids 4. Food containers,...of which 90 % candy wrappers 5. Pieces of fiberglass beside a full trash can. Wind 40 pieces and birds often carry trash to TA LLIN...of which 65 % the water. NE WSPAP ER ow long it takes for a litter item to disintegrate in the sea? 6 weeks PLASTIC BAG PL ASTIC MATTRESS PLAST I C B OT T LE A LUM I NI UM CA N 0 35 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 years Source: SYKE, Plastic Oceans Foundation Lähde: Syke 2016
Most of the marine litter comes from the land In Finland, 300 million plastic bags are used every year. WI ND ave you come to think that if you leave a plastic bag beside a trash can, the bag will often MA R I T I ME T R A F F I C TRAS TROWN BY PEO PL E end up in the sea. Wind carries trash over long distances. Rivers, trenches and OU SEO LD S urban run-off water sewers carry trash, too. Waste water treatment plants do not remove all the litter items from the effluent. FLO O D IN G SE WE R S See that your trash go to trash into toilet bowls. Sources of marine litter: Littering in general; full trash cans Litter coming via sewers Lost fishing equipment Litter from maritime traffic Beach littering F I S I NG 8 0 % O F MA R I NE LI T T E R C O ME S F R O M T E LA ND A ND 2 0 % F R O M T E S E A Source: SYKE cans. Do not dispose any trash
Plastic is everywhere in the modern society. Thus, microplastics are introduced into the sea from Sources of microplastics and pathways to the sea Intentionally manufactured microplastics Microplastics originating from consumables, households, traffic and people's everyday life. Microplastics contain harmful substances: included in the Plastic Microplastics in cosmetics plastic material itself and pellets and personal care products Traffic Textiles Plastic items Accidental (transport) Dust from vehicle Washing Fragmentation and operational losses tyres and road fibres adsorbed onto the plastic markings WASTE WATER T R E AT ME NT PLA NTS WATERCOUR S E S SEA S LUD G E Source: Modified from the original by Peter J. Kershaw (UNEP2016) particles.