MEP says Ireland must recycle more plastic to help oceans

People in Ireland and Europe need to do more to stop plastic ending up in our oceans as society is going to become more dependent on the sea for food, energy and jobs in the future, an Irish MEP has said.

A meeting of the Circular Ocean project, an EU supported initiative which seeks to find solutions for reducing marine plastic waste, took place in Cork on Tuesday and heard that plastic production globally would likely double over the next 20 years, having already increased 20-fold since the 1960s.

Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South Deirdre Clune told the conference at Cork County Hall that the increased rate of production could have serious consequences for the environment unless recycling rates improve.

“Oceans make up 70 per cent of our planet’s surface, yet we use them for less than 3 per cent of our economic activity,” she said.

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“By 2050 our planet will be home to 10 billion people who will turn to our oceans for food, energy and for jobs. We need to act wisely and not make the same mistakes we have made on land.”

Discarded

Ms Clune said the way that plastics are produced, used and discarded at present was hugely detrimental to the environment.

“The millions of tonnes of plastic that end up in our oceans every year are one of the most visible signs of the problem and is a cause of growing public concern,” said Ms Clune.

The European Commission has set a target to increase the rate of recycling, which stands at 30 per cent at present to 100 per cent by 2030.

"All these challenges are not just European issues of course they are global issues," Ms Clune added. "A plastic bottle discarded in the ocean in Asia can end up halfway around the world and still be around when our great great grandchildren go to the beach."

Finding solutions

The conference of the Circular Ocean project, run by the Macroom-E community enterprise centre, has attracted some 50 delegates from Norway, Greenland, Scotland and England with a focus on finding solutions to stop waste fishing nets and rope entering the sea.

Project co-ordinator Julie Crowley said that "although the challenge is of global proportions, it was particularly relevant to host the event in Cork" as the county has some 12 per cent of the Irish coastline and is one of the largest fishing regions.

She pointed out that research estimates some eight million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans each year, with the Ellen McArthur Foundation citing that there is likely to be more plastic than fish in the world’s seas by 2050.