According to a new report commissioned by the Marine Resource Conservation working group of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ocean debris in the region has been increasing in spite of mitigating factors to stem the pollution. In fact, there even is a sprawling mass of garbage-littered water known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ‘The damage caused by marine rubbish and debris is costing the Asia-Pacific region more than a billion dollars each year,’ according to the report. Ocean rubbish also brings damage to the fishing and boat industries in the Asia-Pacific region.
On a global scale, ‘6.4 million tons of debris reaches the world’s oceans each year.’ 80 percent of marine garbage is said to come from land based sources. More than half of the rubbish is believed to be plastic. The culprit for said phenomenon in Asia-Pacific is poor landfill practices.
The report, using a Japanese economic model, estimated that close to 0.3 percent of the GDP of governments every year goes to addressing the damage caused by marine debris. “That came to a total of $1.265 billion across the 21 APEC economies. In Australia, clean up of marine rubbish is costing close to $6.5 million each year,” says the study’s author.
The report contains the following recommendations to governments: a more serious focus on ‘preventing rubbish entering waterways,’ instead of controlling it while already there; and ‘building nets at the end of estuaries, where rivers or streams meet the ocean, to catch any debris before it makes its way into open water.’
