Community-led research from UCSB’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory spans three years, four continents and eight countries to reveal the scale of river plastic waste and offer solutions to stop it at the source
By Debra Herrick, UCSB
Rivers carry plastic across continents, so scientists tracked its movement across continents too.
A sweeping new UC Santa Barbara-led study spanning four continents and eight countries has amassed one of the largest datasets ever collected on plastic pollution in rivers — offering insights that the researchers responsible believe are key to helping turn off the tap of plastic waste.
Between 2020 and 2023, researchers worked with local partners to collect data from river sites in Mexico, Jamaica, Panama, Ecuador, Kenya, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. But the study, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, was much more than data gathering.
“What’s really exciting about this effort is that we were able to answer the same question — what does plastic pollution actually look like in rivers — across many different contexts, geographies and cultures,” said lead author Chase Brewster, a project scientist in UCSB’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory.
Together, these local teams form the Clean Currents Coalition, a global initiative directed by the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory to intercept plastic before it reaches the ocean while fostering education, local engagement and systemic change.
Over the three-year period, teams collectively removed and analyzed 3.8 million kilograms of river debris (equivalent to 380,000,000 single-use plastic water bottles), with 66% classified as macroplastic. This large-scale, synchronous effort — rare in its scope and level of coordination — enabled researchers to compare data across diverse social, economic and environmental settings.
“There’s been a lot of modeling about how much plastic is moving from land to ocean, but we didn’t have good on-the-ground data about what kinds of plastic are showing up, or why,” Brewster said. “This project actually let us see those differences and test ideas about what policies and systems are working.”
“In a moment when the growing number of headlines about the threat of plastic pollution to human, animal and planetary health may cause us to throw our hands up in dismay, this work shows that river by river, community by community, we can gather data needed to inform lasting, systemic change and inspire hope along the way,” said Molly Morse, director of the Clean Currents Coalition and senior manager of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory.
Another finding centered on the informal waste-picking sector, where individuals or small scale networks of informal workers collect and sell recyclable materials, like bottles made from PET. “In places like Indonesia where you have a strong informal recycling network, you actually see less recyclable plastic ending up in rivers,” Brewster said. “That suggests that creating real value for plastic waste, while supporting the informal sector by recognizing their work and enabling political and financial investments to keep their services dignified and safe, ultimately leads to less plastic in waterways.”
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When I walk my neighborhood I pick up plastic discards regularly. Mostly they consist of things like plastic bottle caps, disposable teeth cleaners (ugh), plastic bottles as well, pieces of PVC pipe and drip system parts left over by gardeners, occasional foam or plastic cups from restaurants, some fast food bags with leftovers, light film plastic from who knows what (packing material), cigarette butts, an occasional golf ball, an occasional tennis ball, an occasional nerf dart/ammo projectile. Mostly this stuff is either just dumped in the gutter or perhaps lost when the trash people make the transfer from the home containers to the Marborg trucks. What it comes down to are those who are just arrogantly unconcerned with the mess they are making and those that are sloppy (and don’t pick up after themselves). I agree with Basic, so much of the stuff is of only momentary use. A few seconds of minimal benefit for decades of environmental degradation. How can folks ignore this cost? And by folks I include our legislators who will not hold the producers of this s**t to account–like allowing the “reusable plastic grocery bag lie.”
RHS – thank you for doing that!
News flash: quit buying and using those little “disposable” water bottles. It’s insane to see how many people come out of stores with a case of little plastic water bottles. I don’t get it.
BASIC – you know you’d be here whinging if they banned plastic water bottles.