Abstract
Rivers worldwide are now acting as major transport pathways for plastic pollution and discharge large quantities of waste into the ocean. Previous oceanographic modelling and current drifter data have been used to predict the movement and accumulation of plastic pollution in the marine environment, but our understanding of the transport and fate through riparian systems is still largely unknown. Here we undertook a proof of concept study by applying open source tracking technology (both GPS (Global Positing System) cellular networks and satellite technology), which have been successfully used in many animal movement studies, to track the movements of individual plastic litter items (500 ml PET (polyethylene terephthalate) drinks bottles) through the Ganges River system (known as the Ganga in India and the Padma and Meghna in Bangladesh, hereafter known as the Ganges) and the Bay of Bengal. Deployed tags were successfully tracked through the Ganges river system and into the Bay of Bengal marine system. The “bottle tags” were designed and built (e.g. shape, size, buoyancy) to replicate true movement patterns of a plastic bottle. The maximum distance tracked to date is 2845 km over a period of 94 days. We discuss lessons learnt from the development of these plastic litter tags, and outline how the potential widespread use of this open source technology has the ability to significantly increase understanding of the location of accumulation areas and the timing of large inputs of plastic pollution into the aquatic system. Furthermore, “bottle tags” may act as a powerful tool for stimulating social behaviour change, informing science-based policy, and as valuable educational outreach tools for public awareness.
Highlights
Plastic debris is a complex, persistent pollutant of increasing concern within the environment [1,2,3]
Phase A GSM bottle tags (n = 10) deployed in pre-monsoon season were tracked for an average of 20.1 ± 5.7 days (n = 9; bottle A10 had no communication after deployment) (Table 1; Fig 1)
Rivers connect most of the terrestrial surface of Earth to the marine environment and play a critical role in the movement of plastic waste [14]
Summary
Plastic debris is a complex, persistent pollutant of increasing concern within the environment [1,2,3]. INDICIT II (11.0661/2018/794561/SUB/ENV.C2), European Commission provided support in the form of salaries for authors EMD & SEN, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The University of Exeter Multidisciplinary Plastics Research Hub (ExeMPLaR) 685 [EPSRC EP/S025529/1] provided support in the form of salaries for authors SEN and BJG, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section
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