Seite - 293 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

Once in natural water bodies (rivers, lakes, oceans), recovery ofmicroplastics is impossible. Therefore, one challenge is to identify and quantify the upstream sources–aprerequisite tomitigation. In thecasesofmicrobeadsandpreproduction pellets, we witnessed the role of science to present observations of microplastic pollution, followed by amovement to pressure policymakers to regulate industry. Theworkof scientists continues to illuminatemicroplastic impacts, suchas recent reports from the Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects ofMarine Environ- mental Protection (GESAMP) [118], a working group gathered by UNEP to synthesize and report on the state of the scientific evidence regarding the plastic pollution issue and distribute the information to theUnitedNations Environment Assembly. There are four principal solutions that will have high impact on preventing terrestrial and freshwater microplastics from forming. They are: (1) identify and quantify terrestrialmicroplastic sources, (2) scale zerowaste strategies, (3) pursue policy-drivenEPR, and (4) develop novel business solutions. These solutionswill bringgreateralignmentbetweenstakeholderson theutilityofplastic insocietyand amoreequitable end-of-life,where environmental and social justice are integrated in the full cost of plastic. The bridge between the linear and circular economy is aboutmaterial circularity coupledwith a sincere investment in common decency and democracy, and corporate responsibility toward those ends, what Severyn Bruyn calls a Civil Economy, whereby government, business, nonprofits and civic groups “can develop an accountable, self-regulating, profitable, humane, and competitive systemofmarkets” [119] (Bruyn2000). This a thoughtful approach that considers thechemistryofmaterials, thedesign of products, the processes required to make things, and finally the systems that manage howmaterials flow back into the production chain, all in the context of causingnoharm topeople and the environment, benignbydesign in its totality. Acknowledgments MTwas supportedby theChileanMillennium Initiative (grantNC120030). References 1.KühnS et al (2015)Deleterious effects of litter onmarine life. In: BergmannM,GutowL, KlagesM(eds)Marine anthropogenic litter. Springer,NewYork, pp75–116 2. ShimanagaM, Yanagi K (2016) The Ryukyu trench may function as a “depocenter” for anthropogenicmarine litter. JOceanogr 72(6):895–903. doi:10.1007/s10872-016-0388-7 3.CarpenterEJ,SmithKL(1972)Plasticson theSargassoseasurface.Science175:1240–1241 4.WongCS et al (1974)Quantitative tar and plasticwaste distributions in the PacificOcean. Nature 247:30–32 5. Shaw DG, Mapes GA (1979) Surface circulation and the distribution of pelagic tar and plastic.MarPollutBull 10:160–162 6.MorrisRJ (1980)Floatingplastic debris in theMediterranean.MarPollutBull 11:125 7.WilberR (1987)Plastic in theNorthAtlantic.Oceanus30:61–68 8.MooreCJetal (2001)Acomparisonofplasticandplankton in theNorthPacificcentralgyre. MarPollutBull 42:1297–1300 Microplastic:WhatAre theSolutions? 293