A new study conducted by Dr. Nicola Beaumont, an environmental economist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory among other researchers, revealed that plastic pollution around the world is having an economic impact worth $2.5 trillion.
While speaking on the need for this new study, Dr. Nicola Beaumont said the research was conducted to put a price on the impact of plastic pollution on human society, as she believed it is underestimated.
The study takes areas of the marine ecosystem services such as fisheries, heritage, and recreation as the basis for this study. And according to the survey, if any of this marine ecosystem services is affected negatively by one to five percent, it can lead to the world economy losing up to $500 – $2500 billion annually.
In general, the study estimated that one ton of plastic pollution on the marine ecosystem would result in world economy losing $3,300 to $33,000 per year. Though Dr. Beaumont said areas such as human health, transport and tourism have not been taken into account which made her admit that they need to do more research.
Also, the study shows that this plastic can travel for up to 2000 miles, introducing bacteria or algae that travel with it to the new environment.
The researchers added that for them to have a good view of the study, they took into consideration 1,200 data points to come up with the above conclusion. They also point to the fact that plastic pollution is leaving a degree of irreversibility which ranges from medium to high.
In another study which was published in 2015, there it was estimated that roughly 4.8 to 12.7 trillion pieces of plastic are entering the marine environment yearly.
Although the first study to be done in determining the increase of plastic pollution dated as far back as 50 years ago when a plastic bag which was trapped on the coast of Ireland was discovered, researchers then believed it had been there since 1965.
Finally, Beaumont said she hopes that by putting a dollar value on the effect of plastic pollution, countries and corporations will see more reasons to find a technique in reducing plastic pollution around the world.
