Creating connections to tackle marine plastic pollution

At this year's International Marine Debris Conference, IMarEST Ocean Plastics and Marine Litter Special Interest Group chair Stephanie Lavelle put the spotlight on sea-based sources of marine plastic pollution. 

For those concerned with marine litter and plastic pollution, the International Marine Debris Conference (IMDC) is the event to attend. 

The conference brings together academics, industry, government, and other stakeholders to strengthen collaborations, discuss the latest science, and catalyse action.

At this year's event (7IMDC), Stephanie Lavelle, Chair of the IMarEST Ocean Plastics and Marine Litter Special Interest Group (SIG), took to the stage to present the highlights of the SIG's Cross-industry investigation into sea-based sources of plastic pollution. 

Cross-industry investigation

The Ocean Plastics and Marine Litter SIG, which consists of some 30 committee members from a variety of disciplines and countries, has been working on a cross-industry investigation into marine-based sources of plastic pollution. When it comes to ocean plastics, "there's a lot of focus on monitoring and quantifying how much plastic pollution is out there," says Lavelle, "but there hasn't been a lot of work on identifying the drivers of plastic pollution across marine sectors. This is the focus of our investigation." 

So far, the investigation has received over 50 speakers from sectors such as fisheries, cargo and tanker shipping, defence, and ports. 

Stephanie Lavelle, Chair of the IMarEST Ocean Plastics & Marine Litter Special Interest Group

Putting the SIG and Investigation on the world stage 

7IMDC presented a unique opportunity to put the work of the Ocean Plastics and Marine SIG in front of a global audience of experts. "Our primary goal was to give a good introduction to IMarEST, the SIG, our investigation, and invite people to engage with us," says Lavelle. 

One of the key insights Lavelle discussed was the problem of single-use plastic, particular for drinking water, on board ships. "Dealing with plastic bottles is a different challenge than dealing with it on land," Lavelle explains. "There's a lot more risk management around dealing with drinking water, so high levels of chlorine are often needed to meet safety standards." One of the issues with chlorine is that it can substantially impact the taste, so crews are less likely to want to drink it, and treatment systems can be more expensive as an initial investment, but is a more economical way to provide drinking water that is more frequently tested than bottled water.  

Lavelle also highlighted port reception facilities' critical role in dealing with waste that comes off vessels. "Port reception facilities are where all this waste will end up before being passed onto waste contractors and other land-based facilities. Often there isn't sufficient information or guidance on where the preferred places to offload waste or recycle are," she explains, noting that not all ports have the facilities to take waste or offer recycling facilities. 

Building networks for future collaborations 

"The presentation was really well received," says Lavelle. "I was quite overwhelmed that we had a queue of people waiting to speak to me about the investigation, the SIG, and joining IMarEST." Lavelle also had the opportunity to reach out to those whose presentations were most relevant to the SIG. 

Many of the discussions Lavelle had have paved the way for future collaborations. For example, "The SIG was invited to join a fishery gear recycling workshop with the FAO, and we hope to collaborate further with the FAO and GloLitter efforts on plastic litter remediation efforts." Others have offered to engage in the investigation of sea-based sources of marine plastics.  

To become a member of the Ocean Plastics and Marine Litter SIG, log into My IMarEST, click on My Special Interest Groups and then tick the boxes of the SIGs you'd like to join. You can then also join the group on Nexus, our networking platform." 

Dr Sam Andrews is a marine ecologist and science writer