In recent years, Taiwan has begun to face up to the ecological problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. Once plastics reach the sea, they are difficult to remove. Instead of biodegrading, they only shred into smaller pieces that end up in the food chain, harming marine life and the humans who consume it. Today in our weekly special report, we''ll see what''s being done to clean up the ocean. We''ll also discover the surprising culprit that''s contributing the MOST to plastic waste. It’s August, the height of the summer. In New Taipei City’s Rueifang District, on a beachfront 15 meters below the nearest road, workers are busy cleaning.This pile of trash is entangled, and it must be cut apart to be cleared away. On another side of the beach, smaller pieces of trash is being separated and bagged up.A sudden downpour strikes, but the cleanup doesn’t stop.In July of last year, Greenpeace and The Society of Wilderness began a one-year survey of garbage along the nation’s coastline. This July, they announced the results of the survey, which showed that in all four seasons of the year, the coastline of Rueifang was the dirtiest in Taiwan.Liu Chia-weiGreenpeaceWe discovered that Taiwan’s waste is very unevenly distributed. More than 50% of the waste ends up on 10% of the coastline. Put it another way: If the government focuses its resources on 10% of the coastline, it can reduce the level of waste by 50%.Rueifang has the dirtiest coastline in Taiwan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this stretch of coast is managed by no one. No individual or agency is responsible for its condition. For the time being, northeast coast scenic area authorities have taken charge of cleanup. Wu Chien-chihNortheast scenic areaWe went there and had a look. We saw that there is a drop in elevation equivalent to a five-story building – a 15 meter drop. That’s why very few people, visitors or fishers go to that area. Topographically, we’ve got an inner bay and reefs. When the ocean current carries garbage into the inner bay, that garbage stays on the reefs. It gets stuck there. Off the coast of Rueifang, garbage floats in the water, waiting for a wave to propel it to shore. It’s the ocean’s dirty secret: It’s teeming with garbage. What you see is only the tip of the iceberg.Liu Chia-weiGreenpeacePollution in the oceans is an extremely serious problem. According to scientists’ surveys, every year 1,270 tons of garbage enters the ocean. That means that every minute, one truckload of garbage is dumped into the ocean. As garbage piles up in the oceans, some of it washes up onshore. An environmental group survey found traces of microplastics in all waters off the Taiwan coast. The government has rolled out bans on plastic bags, disposable utensils, and straws, to lower marine pollution by cutting plastic at the source. But one major plastic pollutant has escaped the government bans.Wu Chien-chihNortheast scenic areaOver here, more than half the waste is discarded fishing gear. For example, there are things like the Styrofoam and buoys used on fishing boats, as well as nets. There are also driftwood and branches, which account for roughly 20% of the waste. The rest is everyday items. On the country’s dirtiest coast, fishing gear alone accounts for 50% of the garbage. It raises the question: Do the rest of Taiwan’s coastlines have the same problem?Liu Chia-weiGreenpeaceWe discovered that the types of waste found on all coastlines are roughly identical. The most common is plastic foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. Taiwan has a thriving fisheries industry. We have fishing up north and fisheries down south. Things like fishing nets and buoys get discarded, and a big fraction washes up on beaches.According to a Greenpeace survey, discarded fishing gear is the No. 1 contributor to marine waste. Discarded gear can be managed or cleaned up by volunteers. But all too often, nets get dumped into the sea, sometimes deliberately, and that is waste that’s harder to tackle.Next week, we''ll continue our investigation of marine pollution and turn to the unique threat that fishing nets pose to marine life.
In recent years, Taiwan has begun to face up to the ecological problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. Once plastics reach the sea, they are difficult to remove. Instead of biodegrading, they only shred into smaller pieces that end up in the food chain, harming marine life and the humans who consume it. Today in our weekly special report, we''ll see what''s being done to clean up the ocean. We''ll also discover the surprising culprit that''s contributing the MOST to plastic waste. It’s August, the height of the summer. In New Taipei City’s Rueifang District, on a beachfront 15 meters below the nearest road, workers are busy cleaning.This pile of trash is entangled, and it must be cut apart to be cleared away. On another side of the beach, smaller pieces of trash is being separated and bagged up.A sudden downpour strikes, but the cleanup doesn’t stop.In July of last year, Greenpeace and The Society of Wilderness began a one-year survey of garbage along the nation’s coastline. This July, they announced the results of the survey, which showed that in all four seasons of the year, the coastline of Rueifang was the dirtiest in Taiwan.Liu Chia-weiGreenpeaceWe discovered that Taiwan’s waste is very unevenly distributed. More than 50% of the waste ends up on 10% of the coastline. Put it another way: If the government focuses its resources on 10% of the coastline, it can reduce the level of waste by 50%.Rueifang has the dirtiest coastline in Taiwan. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this stretch of coast is managed by no one. No individual or agency is responsible for its condition. For the time being, northeast coast scenic area authorities have taken charge of cleanup. Wu Chien-chihNortheast scenic areaWe went there and had a look. We saw that there is a drop in elevation equivalent to a five-story building – a 15 meter drop. That’s why very few people, visitors or fishers go to that area. Topographically, we’ve got an inner bay and reefs. When the ocean current carries garbage into the inner bay, that garbage stays on the reefs. It gets stuck there. Off the coast of Rueifang, garbage floats in the water, waiting for a wave to propel it to shore. It’s the ocean’s dirty secret: It’s teeming with garbage. What you see is only the tip of the iceberg.Liu Chia-weiGreenpeacePollution in the oceans is an extremely serious problem. According to scientists’ surveys, every year 1,270 tons of garbage enters the ocean. That means that every minute, one truckload of garbage is dumped into the ocean. As garbage piles up in the oceans, some of it washes up onshore. An environmental group survey found traces of microplastics in all waters off the Taiwan coast. The government has rolled out bans on plastic bags, disposable utensils, and straws, to lower marine pollution by cutting plastic at the source. But one major plastic pollutant has escaped the government bans.Wu Chien-chihNortheast scenic areaOver here, more than half the waste is discarded fishing gear. For example, there are things like the Styrofoam and buoys used on fishing boats, as well as nets. There are also driftwood and branches, which account for roughly 20% of the waste. The rest is everyday items. On the country’s dirtiest coast, fishing gear alone accounts for 50% of the garbage. It raises the question: Do the rest of Taiwan’s coastlines have the same problem?Liu Chia-weiGreenpeaceWe discovered that the types of waste found on all coastlines are roughly identical. The most common is plastic foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. Taiwan has a thriving fisheries industry. We have fishing up north and fisheries down south. Things like fishing nets and buoys get discarded, and a big fraction washes up on beaches.According to a Greenpeace survey, discarded fishing gear is the No. 1 contributor to marine waste. Discarded gear can be managed or cleaned up by volunteers. But all too often, nets get dumped into the sea, sometimes deliberately, and that is waste that’s harder to tackle.Next week, we''ll continue our investigation of marine pollution and turn to the unique threat that fishing nets pose to marine life.
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