Developing a monitoring protocol for macroplastics in the Meuse

Abstract

Plastic pollution affects everyone around the globe and is a widespread problem. Plastic production and plastic use have increased over the last decades. At the same time, plastic pollution is increasing on land and water due to a lack of infrastructure concerning decent water management and awareness of the public at large about the consequences of its behaviour. Through the oceans, plastic litter is distributed to every far corner of the earth. The main source of plastics is from land-based activities as littering and industrial outfalls that end up in the rivers. It is suggested that around 70-80% of all plastics ends up in the oceans through the river flows. The magnitude and dimension of the plastic problem differs per river. Its effects are increasing in combination with the growing population and the plastics’ accumulating nature. In order to effectively and efficiently tackle the plastic pollution, more knowledge on the plastic extent in rivers is needed. Monitoring is a key in providing valuable knowledge about the flux of macroplastics in the water. Expanding the current knowledge of plastic presence in large rivers contributes to a solid approach and solution that possibly enables an increased recycling and reuse rate of the produced plastics. This thesis focuses on the development of a protocol concerning the riverine monitoring of macroplastics, plastics that are greater than 5 mm, which can be seen by the human eye. In this thesis different monitoring aspects are treated as the sampling method, frequency, analysis and location of sampling. The protocol that is developed will describe which available methods are able to monitor the plastic flux in the Meuse by the use of criteria. The Meuse is used for the design of this protocol in order to make the outcomes of this thesis feasible. By literature research, expert interviews, reflection and a methods analysis we have come to the results. The plastic monitoring protocol entails the monitoring (sampling) method, the frequency, the location, and the analysis of the data. For the Meuse, the best suitable combination of methods is camera and bubble screen. This means that the total macroplastic flux can be monitored (including all four river habitats bottom, column, surface and bank) in item or weight unit, in a time unit of minute or hour, over the total width of the river. It is of importance to implement the protocol in the short future so that we gain insights in the current total macroplastic fluxes in rivers and thereby are coming closer to possible effective approaches that reduce the plastic extent in the water environment.