Every year, 13 million tons of garbage are dumped into the sea. This is equivalent to one truckload of garbage being dumped every minute, and plastic is being dumped into the sea once every second. Now, it is common to see news of animals dying after eating marine debris.

Sea turtles that died after mistaking marine debris for food, bottlenose dolphins caught in discarded nets, and a large amount of plastic found in the belly of a dead sperm whale... There are now so many news stories like this that their severity is diminishing. The marine debris problem is not just important to people who are concerned about animal welfare. Humans are also being harmed by marine debris, as well as animals.

In 2020, a massive pile of garbage hit the beach in Honduras. The garbage covered the sea so much that the water was not visible, and it reached the area where the residents lived. Most of the garbage was plastic.

Plastic, which has made human life more convenient, has now become the enemy of the earth. Because of its characteristic of being lightweight and not decaying for a long time, plastic floats around the sea in its original form, and gathers in one place to form an island. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the GPGP, is a prime example. This phenomenon occurs when garbage gathers in areas with little water flow due to circular currents such as the Kuroshio Current and the North Pacific Current. It is estimated that the GPGP contains more than 1 trillion pieces of plastic, covering an area of 1.6 million square kilometers and expanding further. The most surprising fact is that this island was first discovered in 1997. This shows that the marine debris problem was severe even before the climate crisis emerged as a global environmental issue. Since the garbage is gathered in one place, it could be a good opportunity to collect a large amount of garbage. However, it is not in the territorial waters of any country, so there is no country willing to take responsibility for collecting the garbage.

Fortunately, some environmental groups are taking the lead in collecting marine debris. In 2022, The Ocean Cleanup, a New Zealand environmental group, collected 100 tons of garbage from the GPGP. In addition, Australia developed ‘seabin’, a garbage can in the sea, and installed it in ports around the world. As a result, it is said to have helped collect 1.4 tons of marine debris annually. In addition, various environmental groups have been working hard, but the size of the garbage island is so large that their efforts are not enough.

International cooperation is needed to solve the marine debris problem. The biggest problem is regulating the use of plastic, and for this, the conclusion of the International Plastic Treaty in 2024 seems important. The International Plastic Treaty is a treaty aimed at reducing plastic production by more than 75% by 2040, and more people’s attention is needed for the treaty to be concluded.