Plastics in the Aquatic Environment - Part II Stakeholders' Role Against Pollution

This book reviews comprehensively the opportunities and responsibilities of science, society and politics to combat plastic pollution in marine and freshwaters. It provides insights on what information is needed, and from whom, and it outlines policies proposed by various institutions including OSPAR, HELCOM and the European Union. Plastic waste has become a global threat to the aquatic environment that does not stop at country borders. Meanwhile, there are many efforts in science, industry, commerce and governments to tackle the problem worldwide. School education, NGO public actions, voluntary trade reduction measures, governmental management options and governmental regulatory actions are part of the portfolio of efforts to deal with the problem.

Together with the companion volume Plastics in the Aquatic Environment - Part I: Current Status and Challenges, it provides scientists, policymakers and environmental managers with essential reference information on how this problem is being solved, what challenges and barriers are expected and how they can be overcome.

  

Introductory remarks on the role of stakeholders in addressing plastic pollution of the aquatic environment.- Human perceptions and behavior determine aquatic plastic pollution.- Society role in the reduction of plastic pollution.- Education against Plastic Pollution: Current Approaches and Best Practices.- Stakeholder analysis in solving the problem of accumulation of plastics in surface waters of protected areas.- The role of policy in tackling plastic waste in the aquatic environment.- Monitoring approaches for marine litter in the European Sea basins.- Plastics in the Austrian stretch of the Danube River – From environmental data to action plans at the local, national and international level.- Plastics in freshwater: a new challenge for the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)?.- Five years since the 2013 HELCOM Ministerial Declaration.- Combating marine plastics: the role of finance and technical assistance by Development Finance Institutions.- The current state of law on plastic pollution in Mexico and a view towards the future.- The problem of microplastics and regulatory strategies in Italy.- Concluding remarks on the role of stakeholders in addressing plastic pollution of the aquatic environment.

Dr. Friederike Stock is a research assistant in the Department of Biochemistry and Ecotoxicology at the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG; Koblenz, Germany) since 2016. She has a Ph.D. in sedimentology /paleogeography from the University of Cologne, Germany. Dr. Stock is leading a project about micro- and macroplastics in German ivers and is involved in an international project about plastics in fresh- and marine waters. During the last years, she organized conferences and workshops to get scientists, politicians and stakeholders together, is responsible for a homepage about plastics (https://www.plastic-network.org) and published several scientific research papers about plastics.