Marine pollution: An alarming threat for South Asian littoral states

Marine pollution on land and in oceans is currently a pressing environmental issue around the globe. The accumulation of waste causes severe, irreversible impacts and consequences on marine life, ecosystems, and the environment due to the lack of good waste collection, treatment, and management systems.

Marine pollution began to be recognized and taken on importance since 1950 due to its consequences on human health through the intake of contaminated seafood/foodstuffs. In fact, oceanic habitats are subject to a wide variety of pollutants, among them, heavy metals and trace elements took a significant position. In recent decades, the marine environment shows increasing concentrations of these pollutants following large-scale urbanization, industrialization, and greater agricultural activities. Heavy metals and metalloids from anthropogenic activities, including mining, milling, petrochemicals processing, electronics industry, and municipal waste, directly discharged into the marine environment or transported into the greater aquatic system via estuaries are of particular concern. Particularly, heavy metals are transported from industrial wastewater, coastal aquifers, and ultimately seawater.

South Asian countries have been the main contributor to the world’s marine pollution problem in the ocean. Due to many South Asian countries having large populations and lacking proper disposal for solid waste, much of the waste ends up leading to the ocean. The main cause for waste leading to the ocean is from two major river ways, the Indus River System, and the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna River System. Trash, plastic, and other solid waste is dumped in the river systems and eventually ends up in the oceans. In the map below, you can see some of the main rivers in South Asia that collects and distributes plastic and other waste to the ocean.

Plastic leaks into the ocean from thousands of sources all over the world every day. Photo: Getty Images

There is an estimated 334 million metric tons of waste produced every year in South Asia, with nearly 70-80% ending up in the ocean. 12% of this waste is plastic and the massively polluted rivers in Asia are the main cause of this plastic leading to the ocean. Many countries in South Asia have realized the problem, and are now trying to do what they can to clean their oceans and beaches. All eight South Asian countries have come together to launch the Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia regional organization to curb the plastic pollution in the ocean. SACEP and World Bank are collaborating on the regional project to help reform the plastic pollution in South Asia, with their three component method. The first component being to support competitive block grant investments to reduce plastic waste. The main idea behind this is to support circular plastic economy solutions to eliminate the plastics leading to the ocean. The circular plastic economy is the idea of repurposing plastic, especially single-use PPE.

The South Asian littoral states which comprises of Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, with a combined population of over 1.5 billion people or 22 percent of the world population has been largely affected by the plastic wastes in the recent times. Almost 200 million people in the Bay region live in coastal areas, with a substantial proportion either partially or wholly dependent on fisheries. Rich in natural resources including energy and minerals, the Bay is not only a source of livelihood but also a valuable resource for foreign exchange. Its Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) support a wide range of habitats including extensive tracts of mangroves, coral reefs (eight percent of the world’s coral reefs) and sea grass beds. This area of high biodiversity is home to a large number of endangered and vulnerable species.

Like any other large water body, the Bay of Bengal is littered with plastic and huge amount of plastic waste is found on the shorelines, on the seabed, and suspended in the water column. The Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea are the new plastic hotspots in Asia and the Bay of Bengal is more polluted than the Indian Ocean gyre. This is due to population pressure, poor waste management practices followed by the regional countries and above all poorly designed products.

Perhaps what is most disturbing is the fact that plastic has been found inside fish and large mammals. Large size fish and other mammals inadvertently consume plastic as if they are eating fish and the digestive system does not permit excretion of the plastic. Consequently, the debris remains inside the body causing ‘full stomachs’ resulting in starvation.

Marine pollution comprise chiefly of plastics, dunnage, packing material, cleaning material, rags, paper products, food waste, remains of paints, solvents, and chemicals. Photo: Constellation Marine Services

The dangers of excessive plastic use and its dumping into the sea is high on the agenda of several countries. The Bay of Bengal countries individually and collectively would have to address this problem. For instance, in Bangladesh, since 2013, under Project Aware and its ‘Fighting Marine debris’ programme, divers and volunteers engage in survey and removal of marine debris off the Saint Martin’s Island. In February 2016, the divers removed 1048 objects and of these, 90.31 per cent were of plastic. It is useful to mention that at least four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are closely associated with marine litter and Target 14.1 addresses prevention and reduction of marine pollution, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris.

It is now widely acknowledged that marine pollution is a ‘common concern of humankind’ and the key to reducing future dumping of plastic into the sea can be achieved by raising awareness amongst the international community, fishermen and coastal communities. In this context, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an appropriate regional organisation which can take the lead and give priority to plastic litter pollution. At the national level, Bay of Bengal littoral states would have to institute measures to collect plastic litter from waterfronts, promote recycling and encourage use of biodegradable packaging.

Valuable materials are polluting our beaches and damaging our environment instead of being pumped back into our economy. Therefore, a circular economy approach which puts the emphasis on preventing waste and on recycling and reuse of materials and products in the first place, is the best solution to the marine pollution problem. Indeed, a continuous review of the monitoring, innovation and improvement of the activities needs to be addressed in a timely manner.

Cleaning up the oceans is another option; it is however not the most efficient method against marine pollution. The solution is to tackle the problem at its source. Collaboration with industries, non-governmental organizations and other development partners might be effective. Marine pollution is also one of the clearest symbols of a resource inefficient economy.