Seite - 226 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

Although this visible (waste) problemhas resulted in anumberof new technol- ogies forwastedisposal andpolicies for its regulation, suchas theGermanLawon CircularEconomy[17] (see [18] for furtherdiscussion), theEuropeanDirectiveon PackagingandPackagingWaste [19],or theEuropeanWasteFrameworkDirective [20], the current debateon theenvironmental consequencesofplasticwaste shows thatwe still have notmanaged tofind effective solutions.Butwhy is it so hard to tackle theproblem? From the social-ecological risk perspective, the environmental implications of plastics can be understood as an unintended side effect produced by modern societies through their normal mode of operation [9]. Plastic products are an integral part of our everyday lives and their consumption is largely inconspicuous. For instance, plastic used in food packaging does not satisfy a demand for plastic but a demand for fresh food. Plastic packaging in the medical sector guarantees asepticmedicalproducts,andplasticbagsareaneasywaytotransportourshopping [21,22].Theseare justa fewexamplesofhowplasticproductshavepenetratedour society, contributing to the environmental accumulation of plastic waste. The biggest share of plastic waste is produced by plastic packaging of consumer goods [23]. The environmental risk is thus created in a decentralizedway by our everydaylivesandnotbyanextremeeventordisaster.Tomanage theproblem,we would need to reconsider our everyday practices and transform our habits and routines in respect of how we produce, use, and dispose of plastic products. Changing everyday habits and routines is certainly challenging. However, it is noteworthythat theseroutinepractices,nowreferredtoas the“throwawayculture,” were learnedbyoursociety in thenot-so-distantpast.AfterBakelite—thefirst truly syntheticpolymer—was inventedasasubstitute fornatural resources suchashorn, ivory, or tortoiseshell in 1907, plasticswere soon substituting othermaterials and Table 1 Recurringheadlines fromTheNewYorkTimes, selected from theperiod1970 to2015 18.02.1973 Oceanpollution—the very dirty seaaroundus Report on scientific surveysdiscoveringpollution at sea.Amongother kindsof trash, plastic litter ismentioned as plastic fragments andplastic bottles 25.12.1984 Deadly tide of plasticwaste threatensworld’s oceansandaquatic life Report on thefirst international conference ofmarine biologists on the issue of “plasticwaste in theoceans”held at theUniversity ofHawaii inHonolulu.The article describes plasticwaste as anewand insidious formof pollution 28.02.1992 Biologists cite plastic bag inwhale death Article about a humpbackwhalewashed ashorewho swallowedaplastic bag, probably the cause of death as statedby researchers 22.06.2008 Seaof trash—pollution in theworld’s oceans Essayonplastic pollution in the oceans describing concrete examples, causes, effects, publicperceptionof the issue, andmeasures tofight theproblemfromthe 1980s to the 2000s 12.02.2015 Studyfinds rising levels of plastics in oceans Article about a scientific studyof the growingamounts and the sources of plastic wasteentering theoceans.Nationsareurged to takestrongmeasures todisposeof their trash responsibly 226 J.KrammandC.V€olker