Viet Nam: Sources, Impacts and Management of Plastic Marine Debris

Article type: Research Article

Authors: van Truong, Nguyen^{a; *} | Chu, Beiping^{b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Dalian Maritime University Law School, Dalian, China | [b] Dean, Dalian Maritime University Law School, Dalian, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected].

Abstract: Marine environmental pollution caused by plastic wastes has been studied for 50 years, although that research has produced limited recommendations regarding reduction, prevention and control of such wastes. The large annual volume of such pollution enters the marine environment in many ways and lasts a long time, causing harm to marine fauna through entanglement and ingestion of toxic components, which can affect their reproductive capacity and the food chain, and negatively impact human health as well. Viet Nam is fourth in the list of the 20 countries discarding the greatest amounts of plastic waste into the sea on an annual basis. This paper provides an overview of research on the sources of marine plastics pollution, and analyses of its impacts on marine life, marine ecosystems and human health. It briefly reports about the quantity of marine plastic waste that washes up in the coastal region of Viet Nam and offers recommendations to help minimise and manage plastic waste generated by ships.

Keywords: Marine plastic waste, marine debris, MARPOL Annex V, marine pollution

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-200201

Journal: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 50, no. 1-2, pp. 119-133, 2020