Collection of plastic waste
A large portion of the world population (at least 2 billion people) may lack access to solid waste collection systems (UNEP and ISWA 2015), which increases the risk of plastic waste escaping into the environment. Municipal waste collection is an essential first step in the proper management of plastic waste. Plastic waste for recycling can be separated by householders at source or sorted at a facility. This waste can be collected in a number of ways (e.g. kerbside, door-to-door, at specialized drop-off points or using deposit/return systems). Manual removal of marine litter, mainly carried out by volunteers during beach or coastal clean-ups, is a wellknown collection method. Other methods involve surface or bottom trawling, the use of retention booms that trap floating litter on the sea surface, and diving to remove litter from the seafloor (Schneider et al. 2018).
Year: 2021
From collection: Drowning in Plastics: Marine Litter and Plastic Waste Vital Graphics
Cartographer: GRID-Arendal