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In theUK, theEnvironmental ProtectionAct (EPA) of 1990 stated that it is an
offense to throw down, drop, or otherwise deposit, and then to leave, litter. It
enables bans and fines for littering any public places [39]. The Clean
Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) of 2005 amends the EPA, for
example, that a principal litter authority is empowered to specify the amount of a
fixedpenalty to be applied for a litteringoffense [40].
InEngland, theCodeofPractice onLitter andRefusepublishedby theDepart-
mentforEnvironment,FoodandRuralAffairs in2006āapplies toallplaces thatare
open to the air, includingprivate landand landcoveredbywater. [. . .]There is no
restriction on the type of litter for which this may be used, but it is intended
primarily to help deal with food and drink packaging and other litter caused by
eating āon-the-goāā [41, p. 42f]. In this code, litter is defined as āmaterials, often
associatedwithsmoking,eatinganddrinking, thatare improperlydiscardedandleft
bymembers of the public; or are spilt during business operations aswell aswaste
managementoperationsā[41,p.11]. Inaddition,a lawhasbeenpassedthatrequires
large shops to charge 5 pence for all single-use plastic carrier bags starting on
5October2015.Thechargewas introduced trying to influenceconsumerbehavior.
In the first 6months since introducing the charge, the plastic bag usage drops to
approximately 85% [42]. Wales (started charging in 2011), Northern Ireland
(started charging in 2013), andScotland (started charging in 2014) have also seen
a significant drop inplastic bagusage.
In Scotland, The Litter (Fixed Penalties) (Scotland) Order 2013 [43], entering
into force in 2014, prescribes fixed penalties for discharging any liability to
conviction for thewaste (including littering and flytipping) and littering offenses
with reference to theEPA.TheScottishLitterStrategy [44],published in2014and
based on research and extensive consultation, has threemain goals to reduce and
ultimatelyprevent litterandflytippingand toencouragepersonal responsibilityand
behavior change: ā1. Information - improving communications, engagement and
educationaround the issue. 2. Infrastructure - improving the facilities and services
provided to reduce litter andpromote recycling.3.Enforcement - strengthening the
deterrent effect of legislation and improving enforcement processesā (retrieved
13.11.2016 from http://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/litter-flytipping/national-
strategy).
As already mentioned in the section on regional regulation instruments, the
Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive [21] calls on the member states to
implement national deposit and return systems, in which disposed plastics are
collected and recycled to allow their reuse as newpackaging.This should contrib-
ute, amongothers, to a reductionofplastic inputs into freshwater environments. In
Denmark, for instance,DanskRetursystemA/Sis suchaprivatelyownednonprofit
organization that is regulated by a statutory order (see https://www.dansk-
retursystem.dk/). Another example for such a deposit and return system is the
Irish company Repak (see https://www.repak.ie/). Deposit and return systems
incentivize to correctly dispose (plastic) litter and thus provide the advantage to
keepplastics in the economic circle.
FreshwaterMicroplastics:Challenges forRegulation andManagement 253
Freshwater Microplastics
Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Title
- Freshwater Microplastics
- Subtitle
- Emerging Environmental Contaminants?
- Authors
- Martin Wagner
- Scott Lambert
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2018
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-61615-5
- Size
- 15.5 x 24.1 cm
- Pages
- 316
- Categories
- Naturwissenschaften Chemie