When we were in school, we learnt that there is more water in the world than there is land mass. In fact, about 2/3 of the earth’s surface is covered with water of oceans and seas.
Growing up in the middle of Borneo, the world’s third largest island, I never saw the “banget” — the Kelabit and Lun Bawang word for sea or ocean.
Only after I went to Forms 4 and 5 in SMK Marudi, and when visiting my cousin Hendrick Iboh who was with the Police Field Force in Miri, did I see for the very first time this endless stretch of water, from his quarters on the hill overlooking the Brighton Beach.
The sight was just overwhelming after the limited peripheral vision constrained by the high mountains surrounding the Bario valley where I grew up.
Soon I learnt that oceans and seas are very important to us. Of course, rivers too, I can personally vouch for that. Firstly, some people believe that life first emerged from the seas, claiming that evidence shows that life probably began in the ocean at least 3.5 billion years ago.
Secondly, oceans and seas are life sources for many plants and animals and plays a crucial role in the chemical and biological balance of life on the planet. We can’t argue with that statement.
But the oceans and seas are now being severely threatened with increasing pollution from many forms of pollutants.
The increasing discharge of these pollutants into the sea is in such voluminous amount that conditions of the sea changes physically, chemically and biologically causing what is termed as “Marine pollution”. Admittedly, one of the major and pressing problems of our times. As if we don’t have many intractable problems on our hands already.
Let’s take a moment to focus on plastic pollution of the world’s seas and oceans. Plastic waste of all shapes and sizes has already polluted the world’s seas and oceans. And the rivers too. I saw these with my own eyes in all the places have visited, such as, Bali, Vietnam, Thailand, Kunming (China), Khartoum, Alexandaria, Damascus, Bagdad, Buenos Aires, North Carolina, and many other places.
And of course, back home, in the interior of Borneo.
Plastic is showing up everywhere — on beaches, river mouths, lakes, ponds, in the fishes and marine animals; and in all seas and oceans, including the once pristine Artic. Plastic litter is found throughout the oceans, from the surface to bottom, suspended in all levels of the water column and on the seabed. It’s as if the whole world is inundated with plastic — a literal dukkha-samudra or sea of bitterness; ocean of suffering.
Unlike organic matter such as wood and other plant materials drifting in the ocean, plastic does not biodegrade in oceanic conditions but fragments into smaller pieces under UV and mechanical constrains. The pollution of our seas from plastics comes in different forms, ranging from microplastics (pieces larger than 20 centimetres) to microplastics to (pieces smaller than 5 millimetres) and all the way to nanoparticles that we cannot see.
Obviously, most of this pollution originates from the land. For example, from raw material leaking from the industry and transport, inefficient waste management or equipment wear (tires, clothing, paint etc.). Most plastic litter is found by the coastlines, closer to the place of their origin or disposal point. One can hardly find any beach anywhere that is free of plastic pollution. Sad, very sad.
The environmental impacts of plastic litter are immense. The large pieces (microplastics) such as fishing nets and groceries bags, and now surgical masks, lead to wildlife entanglement, choking and physical damage.
Everyone with access to social media and the internet would have seen horrifying pictures of marine life and other wildlife caught in plastics and other man made materials. The smaller pieces (called microplastics) are ingested and then passed through the entire food chain.
Plastics are harmful as they release both toxic additives (colour, texture agents etc.) and environmental contaminants concentrated on the plastic litter prior to ingestion. As consumers of marine source food such as fish and crustaceans, and so on, the harmful additives and chemicals in the food chain are passed on to humans.
The famous endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans, Lewis Pugh, (see, @LewishPugh tweeter handle) has been a strong and relentless champion of the ocean, highlighting the dangers and effects of pollution of the oceans. He is the first man to have swam the Artic and Antarctic oceans, in the Himalayas (in a lake, where he said he almost died). He has swam across the English Channel and undertaken many other feats earning him the distinction of having swam in all the Seven Seas. Truly a real life, flesh and blood super hero, not the marvel comic fantasy we read about when we were young.
One of his statements, or one can say, his motto is “Impossible is NOT a fact. It is an opinion.” That would give you an idea about the steely mindset and determination of this modern day, real life hero. A hero fighting the cause for the well-being of our seas and oceans, and that of mankind too.
I have had the good fortune to meet Lewish Pugh in person some years ago when I was in London for a Management Retreat of the top management of Gazprom Marketing & Trading Ltd, operating out of London. He was invited to speak at our Management Retreat by way of a motivational speaker through the sharing of his exploits and experiences. Meeting and talking to the man, and hearing of his exploits and the motivation behind it, is a highly motivating experience. One can sense the energy and passion of the man.
Our own seas and rivers have not escaped this modern scourge. Recently, I was having a round of golf with some friends at the scenic Miri Golf Club by the beach. The location is ideal for a world class golf resort. Just need a good golf course designer and builder/investor and the top golfers will come. On the Second Nine, a river flows parallel to the course and empties itself into the South China Sea. At hole 14, a beautiful scene unfolds as the quaint and scenic village on stilts across the river from the golf course comes into full view. I’d like to think of it as our version of the famous Kampong Air in Brunei and would almost make a picture-perfect photo, fit for a tourism brochure. To my mind, the picture I conjured in my head would definitely sell Miri Resort City as a must go destination for tourists.
But alas, on closer examination, one cannot help but notice the debris slowly floating down the river. The debris is made up of mainly plastics of all kinds — bottles, containers, boxes, tupperware, plastic bags, plastic materials and so on. Obviously, the largest form of material waste or garbage, or at least the most visible, comprises of plastics. Plastics, plastics everywhere, what a sore sight to behold. It takes little or no imagination to guess where all these rubbish would end up in, namely, the sea and on the beaches after being pushed back by the waves.
Obviously, it’s not the fault of the City Hall who have the unpleasant and difficult task of collecting all forms of rubbish which have been disposed, sometimes indiscriminately, by the public and inhabitants into the environment.
Obviously, it is not just Miri having a plastics problem. I recall organising a beach cleaning activity in Samalaju in the first or second year after I joined the Samalaju Industrial Port Sdn Bhd as its CEO.
Probably, it was the first plogging activity in the state, where in less than 2 hours we collected more than 2 tons of garbage made up mainly of plastic waste. And that was just in small cove in one corner of our long coastline. For the uninitiated, plogging is defined as means picking up trash and litter whilst jogging, walking or strolling. The concept started in Sweden and expanded to other countries.
Plastics marine pollution is a global problem. Who is to be blamed or where is the main source of pollution coming from? Probably, the answer is not a surprise. Recently, I read a report which was published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine of U.S. which made clear that the U.S. is a big part of the problem of plastic pollution. Based on the report, and a surprise to me, on a per capita basis, the U.S. produces an order of magnitude more plastic waste than China — who is often vilified over pollution-related issues. The report explained that the findings build off a study published in 2020 that concluded that the U.S. is the largest global source of plastic waste, including plastics shipped to other countries. To reinforce the case that the largest contributor is the U.S. and provide greater granularity to the statement earlier, reproduced verbatim below, is an extract from the report:
“In 2016, the United States generated more plastic waste than any country in the world, with a total of 42 MMT (Law et al. 2020). However, the United States only has 4.3% of the world’s population (World Bank 2021). U.S. per capita plastic waste generation is 130 kg/year, which is about 2-8 times higher than many other countries (Law et al. 2020).”
The report also added that, “The U.S. contribution to global ocean plastic waste begins with the plastics produced and used in this country or exported to other nations, as well as imported plastics.
Over a 50-year period, global plastic production increased nearly 20-fold, from 20 MMT in 1966 to 381 MMT in 2015 (Geyer, Jambeck, and Law 2017). In 2019, a total of 70 MMT of plastic resin was produced in North America, compared to a global production of 368 MMT (Plastics Europe 2020).
The U.S. trend of both plastic exports and imports has been increasing over the last three decades.”
What can be done to reduce plastics pollution of the oceans and seas? The report asserts that “The United States should substantially reduce solid waste generation (absolute and per person) to reduce plastic in the environment and the environmental, economic, aesthetic, and health costs of managing waste and litter.”
What is of interest to take note of is that there is no single solution to reducing the flow of plastic waste to the ocean. However, “a suite of actions (or “interventions”) taken across all stages of the path from source to ocean could reduce ocean plastic waste and achieve parallel environmental and social benefits.”
The actions proposed to intervention measures on plastics pollution includes the following:
- Reduce plastic production
- Innovate material and product design
- Decrease waste generation
4.Improve waste management - Capture waste
- Minimise ocean disposal
Perhaps, we should also have a National Plastics Strategy which will mirror the measures proposed in the U.S.? There is no need to re-invent the wheel. There is no shame in following or copying others, especially if it is on something good.
