The Economics of Marine Litter

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of research into quantifying the economic impacts of marine litter. From an environmental economics perspective it introduces the difficulties in measuring the economic costs of marine litter; reviews those sectors where these costs are notable; and considers policy instruments, which can reduce these costs. Marine litter is underpinned by dynamic and complex processes, the drivers and impacts of which are multi-scalar, transboundary, and play out in both marine and terrestrial environments. These impacts include economic costs to expenditure, welfare and lost revenue. In most cases, these are not borne by the producers or the polluters. In industries such as fisheries and tourism the costs of marine litter are beginning to be quantified and are considerable. In other areas such as impacts on human health, or more intangible costs related to reduced ecosystem services, more research is evidently needed. As the costs of marine litter are most often used to cover removing debris or recovering from the damage which they have caused, this expenditure represents treatment rather than cure, and although probably cheaper than inaction do not present a strategy for cost reduction. Economic instruments, such as taxes and charges addressing the drivers of waste, for instance those being developed for plastic bags, could be used to reduce the production of marine litter and minimise its impacts. In any case, there remain big gaps in our understanding of the harm caused by marine litter, which presents difficulties when attempting to both quantify its economic costs, and develop effective and efficient instruments to reduce them.

Plastics in the Marine Environment

“…Although not discussed in this review, social science research is also under way to understand behavioral, societal, and economic drivers of marine debris that might be altered as strategies for reduction (e.g., Ritch et al 2009, Butler et al 2013, Newman et al 2015.…”

Microplastics in the Marine Environment: Distribution, Interactions and Effects

“…Interactions between litter and the marine environment are complex. The impacts of larger plastic debris are discussed by Kühn et al (2015) and consequences include aesthetic, social and economic issues (Newman et al 2015), and numerous environmental impacts on marine biota (Derraik 2002;Barnes et al 2009). However, with an ever increasing reliance on plastic products, and as plastic production, use and disposal continue, microplastics are of increasing concern (Sutherland et al 2010).…”

Fulmar Litter EcoQO monitoring in the Netherlands : update 2016

“…In that broader perspective, the observed slow reduction in quantities of plastics ingested by fulmars gains in significance. (Hall 2000;Lozano & Mouat 2009;Mouat et al 2010;Newman et al 2015).…”