Plastic Soup
Description
Plastic Soup
"I became disturbed by it; this was supposed to be a clean, pristine environment." A short excerpt from an interview with Charles Moore who uses this sentence to try to describe his disillusionment when he sailed a ship across the Pacific Ocean in 1997 and made a discovery that would define the rest of his life. "For as much as a week I saw objects bobbing in the middle of the ocean, over an area of about a thousand miles. I gradually discovered that while I was sailing through the part of the ocean that is as far away from human civilisation as you can be on Earth, the influence of humans was nevertheless constantly visible."
Moore is talking about the plastic soup here. Plastic archipelago and floating rubbish dump are other names for the phenomenon where plastic waste accumulates in the so-called gyres of oceans. These are places where different sea currents come together in a gigantic circular motion. And where all the plastic, discarded by people from the coast, ships, offshore installations, also comes together. Not only the quantity but also the area of the area where the plastic is located is huge. For instance, estimates of the size of the plastic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean range from 700,000 km2 (20 times the Netherlands) to 15 million km2 (more than 400 times the Netherlands). The large and small pieces of plastic waste each affect the environment in their own way. The large pieces entangle marine animals, the smaller ones cause slow starvation because they block the oesophagus. The small pieces are created by the degradation of plastic under the influence of sunlight and are mistaken by marine animals for plankton.
On Thursday evening, 14 October, the Department of Environmental Engineering/Food & Green will hold a discussion evening on this topic. Jesse Goossens, investigative journalist and author of the book Plastic Soup, will kick off the evening with a presentation on the phenomenon where she will discuss, among other things, the causes and consequences of the problem. Carel Cronenberg, leading professional in environment & sustainability at DHV, will follow Jesse and talk about possible solutions to prevent the problem. During the second part of the evening, led by Ronny Ali, head of corporate quality & permitting at Total, there will be a discussion with the audience on the extent to which business can contribute to preventing the accumulation of plastic waste in the sea.
18.00 - 18:30
Reception with coffee and sandwiches
18:30 - 18:35
Welcome and explanation of evening programme
18:35 - 20:00
Speakers:
- Jesse Goossens, Investigative journalist and author of the book Plastic Soup.
- Carel Cronenberg, Leading professional environmental & sustainability at DHV.
20.00 - 20.15
PAUSE
20.15 - 21.15
Discussion led by
- Ronny Ali, Head of corporate quality & permitting at Total EP Netherlands.
21.15 - 22.00
Opportunity for networking and further discussion (drinks at own expense)
Location
Prinsessegracht 23, 2514 AP The Hague
Organiser
Sustainable Technology
Name and contact details for information
Wouter Lubberts