Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste
2022

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An estimated 8 million metric tons (MMT) of plastic waste enters the world's ocean each year - the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute. Plastic waste is now found in almost every marine habitat, from the ocean surface to deep sea sediments to the ocean's vast mid-water region, as well as the Great Lakes. This report responds to a request in the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste.

The United States is a major producer of plastics and in 2016, generated more plastic waste by weight and per capita than any other nation. Although the U.S. solid waste management system is advanced, it is not sufficient to deter leakage into the environment. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste calls for a national strategy by the end of 2022 to reduce the nation's contribution to global ocean plastic waste at every step - from production to its entry into the environment - including by substantially reducing U.S. solid waste generation. This report also recommends a nationally-coordinated and expanded monitoring system to track plastic pollution in order to understand the scales and sources of U.S. plastic waste, set reduction and management priorities, and measure progress.

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268 pages · 6 x 9 · paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-45885-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-45902-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/26132

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National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Front Matter i-xvi
Summary 1-16
1 Introduction 17-30
2 Plastic Production and Global Trade 31-46
3 Plastic Waste and Its Management 47-72
4 Physical Transport and Pathways to the Ocean 73-88
5 Distribution and Fate of Plastic Waste in the Ocean 89-114
6 Tracking and Monitoring Systems for Ocean Plastic Waste 115-140
7 Interventions for U.S. Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste 141-168
References 169-202
Appendixes 203-204
Appendix A: Biographies of the Committee on the United States Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste 205-212
Appendix B: Definitions and Acronyms 213-216
Appendix C: Legal Framework 217-236
Appendix D: Estuary Table 237-244
Appendix E: Global Instruments and Activities Relevant to Ocean Plastic Pollution 245-252

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Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste (2022)

Chapter: Appendixes

Appendixes