Economic Development, Waste Management, and the Pacific Garbage Patch

In recent years, as a greater focus has been placed on the environment, many have become aware of something called “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It is not really that great, nor a patch, but it is made of garbage and it is in the middle of the Pacific (two out of four is not that bad), and the origin of this man made mass is quite telling about the economies of the world.

In recent years, as a greater focus has been placed on the environment, many have become aware of something called “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It is not really that great, nor a patch, but it is made of garbage and it is in the middle of the Pacific (two out of four is not that bad), and the origin of this man made mass is quite telling about the economies of the world.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is more of a swirling vortex where ocean currents cause much of the world’s plastic garbage to collect. As it festers in the sun, the plastic breaks into smaller parts that are believed to be adversely affecting local plant and animal life. As a result, the patch has become a major topic of concern for environmentalists, and the subject of increasing research efforts. 

A recent study in Science Magazine attempted to identify which countries generate the most garbage total and per capita that finds its way into the Garbage Patch. The researchers surveyed 192 countries and discovered that, in total, humanity dumped about 10 to 28 billion pounds of plastic waste into the oceans in 2010. To put that into perspective, that is actually about 1.3 times the total weight of Egypt’s Great Pyramid at Giza. 

Of course, the trash was not dumped evenly by every nation surveyed. In fact, the study showed a marked correlation between economic development and waste management. While America was in the top 20 contributors to the patch, its contribution was minuscule compared to polluting giants like China (nearly 5 billion pounds), Indonesia (about 2 billion pounds), the Philippines (1 billion), and Vietnam (1 billion).

While one might assume the correlation has to do with population density rather than economic factors, the numbers do not bear out this theory. China has four times the population of America, but dumped nearly 25 times the trash. That means that some other factor must be affecting the amount of dumping done by each nation.

The researchers pointed to each nation’s relative economic development. Those countries experiencing rapid economic growth tended to be the worst polluters. Researchers theorize that waste management simply takes a much lower priority to developing countries than other social and financial concerns like clean drinking water, child labor laws, etc. Many of these nations are also playing a sort of “catch up” to more industrialized nations, making them willing to sacrifice long term environmental protection in favor of expedited economic growth.

Unfortunately, as the study points out, there is no immediate solution to this problem, and it is likely to get far worse before it gets better. On the other hand, while solid waste pollution tends to go down with relative level of economic development, carbon emissions tend to go up. As a result, America is, far and away, the biggest carbon polluter in the world. While the effects of carbon pollution may not be as visually offensive as a swirling mass of garbage floating in the ocean, it can be every bit as devastating. This has prompted many to plead for governments at both end of the development spectrum to take stock of their respective impacts on the environment and to shift to less polluting means of economic development.