It goes without saying that sea plastic pollution is one of the deadliest threats to the environment. From extraction to disposal, plastic pollutes at every stage of its life cycle and poses a danger to our wildlife, our planet and to humanity as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to sea plastic pollution, governing bodies all across the world are already under increasing pressure to act as a result of growing public awareness. However, certain stakeholders, business owners and operators in the maritime sector are already stepping up and taking action. To clean up our oceans and stop the issue from growing, efforts are already being made to reduce the amount of single-use plastic winding up in our oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the name suggests, sea plastic pollution is the contamination of our oceans by plastic waste such as single-use water bottles and plastic packaging. So what is plastic? And why is it so bad for our marine ecosystems?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plastic is a synthetic organic polymer made using raw materials such as oil, fossil gas and coal. Used for a diverse range of products across a number of industries, it earned its name for its supposed malleability. It is this property which led to the use of plastic in a myriad of products, particularly single-use products such as water bottles and takeaway packaging. Once hailed \u2018the material of the 21st<\/sup> century\u2019, global plastic production has exploded since its initial discovery, from five million tonnes annually in the 1960s to a whopping 460 million tonnes in 2019. Today, single-use plastic accounts for half of the plastic produced globally every year \u2013 and a significant portion of that waste is winding up in our oceans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The majority of plastic that enters our oceans is buoyant. As a result, it travels with the winds and currents, to build up in spiralling ocean currents. The largest known build-up of plastic has been nicknamed The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and is a whopping 1.6 million km2 pile of plastic waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most common types of plastic litter winding up in our oceans include\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Great Pacific Garbage Patch<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n