By: Rieanna Flores

How often do you stop to look at the environment around you? What do you see when you do? If you take a closer look, you might notice how much plastic waste there is. The world produces over 381 million tons of plastic waste every year. This amount is likely to double by the year 2034, according to Condor Ferries.

Since 2013, China has been known to produce the most plastic waste in the world. China not only produces plastic waste, but in the past also bought recycled plastics, mostly from the United States. In 2013, however, this stopped when the Chinese started the Green Fence Initiative, which was formed to lessen the amount of contaminated recyclables and waste being sent to China.

According to Collective Responsibility, “it [China] significantly tightened restrictions on importing repurposed materials and other scrap for processing, as well as increased inspections.”

In the past, China customarily took any recycled plastics and if those plastics could not be sorted they would end up in Chinese landfills, leaving large amounts of plastic waste; this was unsafe not only to the environment, but also to the health of the Chinese.

In 2018, China banned the import of most plastics, causing recyclers in the United States to worry about how they could dispose of the massive amounts of trash produced in the U.S. In a report from Vice News, “China banned the import of 24 different types of paper and plastic, including things like reusable water bottles. China also changed its requirements for the recyclables it still accepts; it only wants higher grade clean stuff that’s almost perfectly sorted.”

Currently, China is working to reduce its production of plastic waste as well as the amount imported. It is also banning the use of single-use straws, plastic courier packages, and plastic takeout utensils. It will also be getting rid of plastic bags by the end of 2020, according to the Guardian. Though China is working to decrease the amount of plastic waste it produces, there is still a great deal to be done to create a cleaner environment.

Other people around the world are also working hard to lessen plastic waste, such as the Rapa Nui, the indigenous people of Easter Island, 2,182 miles off the coast of Chile. Plastic waste fills their ocean, affecting their culture, which revolves around the rhythms of ocean life. They fish to feed their families, and they collect seashells to create jewelry and artwork.

With the plastic waste that washes in from other countries, the Rapa Nui’s chances of making money and simply surviving are impacted. According to PBS NewsHour, Easter Island is “near what’s known as a “trash vortex” in the middle of the South Pacific and floating waste is constantly washing ashore.” Additionally, the growing local population produces an estimated 20 tons of trash every day.

However, the Rapa Nui refuse to see their culture come to an end as they find ways to clean their ocean, such as using a recycling plant run by a woman named Alexandra Tuquivera; the plant crushes, sorts and stacks waste, which is then shipped to Chile, the mainland.

In May 2020, it was found that most of the plastic that reaches Easter Island comes from Peru. According to Copernicus, “notably industrial fishing is considered as the dominant contributor through the discard of fishing gear (nets, buoys, crates, etc.). The team identified the main South Pacific zones of intense industrial fishing, and found that Easter Island plastic pollution is indeed strongly connected to an intensive fishing area off the coast of Peru.”

The Rapa Nui continue to make an effort to clean their ocean and keep their culture alive. To do so, they formed an organization called “Te Mau O Te Vaikava O Rapa Nui -the Mesa del Mar,” which focuses on protecting their ocean for the sake of their future.

Like Easter Island, plastic can also be found in the Mariana Trench. In 2014, scientists were shocked to discover this considering the Mariana Trench is the deepest known part of the ocean.

Having plastic in even the deepest parts of the ocean makes it unsafe for sea creatures, many of which will eat the plastics, thus putting their health in jeopardy.

According to Royal Society Open Science, “the investigation of micro-plastic ingestion by marine organisms has largely focused on shallow water habitats given the ease of sampling these locations yet we know very little about their ingestion in the deep sea.” This leads us to question how much micro-plastic pollution exists in the ocean and to what extent it impacts marine life.

Scientists have discovered that the sea creatures in the Mariana Trench are contaminated by persistent organic pollutants (POP). By definition, POP are toxic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” based on their resistance to environmental degradation through chemical, biological and photolytic processes.

In 2009, the Mariana Trench was declared part of a protected marine reserve by presidential proclamation in the United States. Scientists continue to study the Trench and other tropical marine ecosystems, according to National Geographic.

In a 2017 report in DNews, Jules Suzdaltsev discusses more on POP and how they affect the ocean. He says, “These include chemicals that have been banned from use for decades, at least in the United States, like polychlorinated biphenyls, which have been shown to cause birth defects and [are] cancer-causing. Other chemicals like pesticides were present as well.”

Suzdaltsev goes on to explain the very high levels of POP, and how the POP concentration is higher than one of China’s most polluted rivers. He says researchers believe it has to do with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is filled with marine debris and is twice the size of Texas. It was discovered in 1997 by marine researcher Charles Moore, floating between Hawaii and California; it continues to float there today.

Though some parts of our world are inundated with plastic waste, like China, Easter Island, and the Mariana Trench, this does not mean we are powerless to help prevent more pollution. If we were to reduce the use of plastic and be more aware of how it is used, we could stop adding trash to already-polluted locations, and play a part in lessening pollution overall. Two ways would be using more items made of paper that is easily recyclable, and purchasing reusable items to replace single-use items. Even the smallest efforts made to reduce plastic waste can help lead us in the right direction for a cleaner future.

Our World or Our Garbage?