INFOGRAPHICS
PLASTIC POLLUTION SOURCES AND PATHWAYS LAND SOURCES Plastics can enter the environment at any stage of product manufacturing, use and disposal, and may eventually reach the ocean.
Accidental loss at transport
Illegal dumping
Abrasion from car tyres
Use of products creating microplastics
HOW DOES PLASTIC TRAVEL?
Wind blows plastic and plastic particles into the environment.
Raw materials lost at production sites
Rain sweeps plastics into the waste and stormwater system or directly into rivers and streams.
Poor waste management From landfills due to run-off and wind
Plastics are directly discharged illegally or legally into rivers and streams.
Waste and stormwater systems can overflow during storms and high tides.
Overflow and discharge at treatment plants As part of sewage sludge
Approximately 640,000 tonnes of fishing equipment is discarded into the marine environment each year.
Deliberate littering
Four out of five pieces of plastic in the ocean actually originate from land-based use.
MARINE SOURCES Waste may be dumped overboard intentionally or due to negligent behaviour, a lack or waste storage facilities, or lost into the ocean during periods of bad weather.
Recreational fishing Aquaculture
Tourist cruises
Commercial fishing
Shipping
MICROPLASTICS IN THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM Microbeads from industrial cleaning products, industrial abrasives and accidental loss of nurdles
Fragmented plastic and road abrasions get blown and washed into the waste and stormwater system
INDUSTRIAL
STORMWATER
Microplastics washed down drains enter our wastewater treatment plants
Garments made of synthetic materials, such as polyester and nylon fleece, can release up to 1900 fibres per wash!
Microbeads and fibres used in personal care products, cleaning products and textiles
Plastics collected from water leaving a NZ wastewater treatment plant
RESIDENTIAL
TREATMENT PLANT
0.5mm
Sewage sludge 0.5mm
Microplastics that are removed during wastewater treatment can end up in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer in agriculture.
Microplastics and any toxic chemicals associated with them can end up in our food and drink.
Some microplastics are so tiny and light that they do not get removed but leave the plant and enter our waterways and oceans.
MICROPLASTICS ENTER OUR WATERBODIES
Plastics collected from water entering a NZ wastewater treatment plant
ENTERING THE FOOD CHAIN
Discharge
Seep into soil, waterways, and aquifiers
Accumulate in wetlands and streams
Microplastics are ingested by aquatic organisms