Reducing marine littering
Plastic pollution has been documented in every aquatic habitat with detrimental effects for pelagic biota and, eventually, for human communities that rely on water and marine resources. While the presence of plastic debris has been widely substantiated with scientific evidence, the amounts and contributions of different flows of plastic waste remain an open question. The project “New Life to Plastic” investigates how the sectors of local economies (e.g. household, industries, and tourism) contribute to the production of solid waste in urban and coastal environments, exploring each sector’s specific contributions to plastic leakages into the environment. Such inputs are reported by polymer type, state-of-the-art at the moment of the survey, and recyclability potential.
East Africa is facing environmental issues from plastic litter being discharged into the ocean, as well as the urgency to reduce uncontrolled littering practices drastically. New Life to Plastic uses analytical data on material floes and end-of-life management of plastics waste to support behavioral changes, awareness and opportunities stemming from plastics waste, and policy alternatives to reduce marine littering. To supply data to the project, fieldwork expeditions were conducted in Spring 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya and Summer 2018 in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
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PROJECT LEADER: Carol Maione
PROJECT MANAGER: Nicolò Ceruti
SIT COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP: SITMilano
PROJECT TYPE: Research, Innovation, Technology
MAIN BENEFICIARIES: Local communities
AREA: Environment and Sustainability
COUNTRY: East Africa
STATUS: Ongoing
