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Marine plastic pollution is a type of marine pollution by plastics, ranging in size from large original material such as bottles and bags, down to microplastics formed from the fragmentation of plastic material. Marine debris is mainly discarded human rubbish which floats on, or is suspended in the ocean. Eighty percent of marine debris is plastic.
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. [1] [2] Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. [3]
A Scientific American article on plastic recycling explained how the complex polymer chains that make up plastics are damaged slightly each time the material is melted down and reformed. In ...
Plastic recycling is the processing of plastic waste into other products. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Recycling can reduce dependence on landfills , conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in seas or the ocean.Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack.
Plastics accounts for 80% of waste dispersed in the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean Sea. [24] Recent studies focus on the types of plastics found and primarily on the issue of microplastics, both at a global but also at a regional level, as in the case of the Mediterranean Sea, which was identified as a "target hotspot of the world" due to its amounts of microplastics ...
The microorganisms found on the plastic debris comprise an entire ecosystem of autotrophs, heterotrophs and symbionts. [8] The microbial species found within plastisphere differ from other floating materials that naturally occur (i.e., feathers and algae) due to plastic's unique chemical nature and slow speed of biodegradation.
Most of the plastics found were nano-sized shards or flakes of polyethylene, which is used in plastic bags, plastic food wrapping, and plastic water bottles. It's unclear what effect this may have ...