Quantifying plastics waste accumulations on coastal tourism sites in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract

Plastic pollution is becoming a growing concern on coastal tourism sites. Unquantified amounts of plastic materials are discharged into coastal waters with detrimental effects on local marine environments. With the expansion of the tourism industry, waste increasingly originates from tourism activities and ends up into the ocean due to poor management of solid waste post-consumption. This study explores the sources, abundance, and type of litter in Zanzibar, Tanzania by surveying four coastal tourism sites. The analysis illustrates the contributions to plastic pollution of four sectors of Zanzibar's economy (residential households, building and construction, tourism, and commercial sector). Findings suggest that plastic accounted for almost half (48.5%) of the waste inflow to the environment, and single-use packaging was the dominant litter item on all sampled sites.