Country-wide assessment of plastic removal rates on riverbanks and water surfaces

Abstract

Plastic pollution in river basins poses a significant environmental challenge, particularly in Japan, located in the northwestern North Pacific, often referred to as a hotspot for plastics. This study quantified the annual recovery of anthropogenic plastic litter from riverbanks and water surfaces, utilizing a nationwide cleanup dataset provided by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The dataset includes the amount of litter recovered through volunteer and administrative cleanup campaigns from 2016 to 2020 in 109 Japanese river basins. Total plastic recovery ranged from 763 to 1177 tons/year, averaging 938 tons/year. Basin-specific recovery was associated with extreme weather events, such as typhoon approaches and heavy rain, which caused significant flood damage in local regions. The estimated annual plastic recovery was an order of magnitude smaller than the previously estimated annual emission of land-based plastic.