Abstract
A substantial fraction of marine plastic debris originates from land-based sources and rivers potentially act as a major transport pathway for all sizes of plastic debris. We analyzed a global compilation of data on plastic debris in the water column across a wide range of river sizes. Plastic debris loads, both microplastic (particles <5 mm) and macroplastic (particles >5 mm) are positively related to the mismanaged plastic waste (MMPW) generated in the river catchments. This relationship is nonlinear where large rivers with population-rich catchments delivering a disproportionately higher fraction of MMPW into the sea. The 10 top-ranked rivers transport 88–95% of the global load into the sea. Using MMPW as a predictor we calculate the global plastic debris inputs form rivers into the sea to range between 0.41 and 4 × 106 t/y. Due to the limited amount of data high uncertainties were expected and ultimately confirmed. The empirical analysis to quantify plastic loads in rivers can be extended easily by additional potential predictors other than MMPW, for example, hydrological conditions.
The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b02368.
Data on measured plastics in rivers, global catchment data, mismanaged plastic waste in the catchments, additional plots representing the methodological concept and the data flow, a map of catchments with measured data, a table summarizing the results for the top-ten ranked river catchments (PDF)
A spreadsheet containing all data used in study (ZIP)
