Claim: Southeast Asian nations, among worst ocean polluters, aim to curb plastic debris.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Marine debris
text: bags below 2000m depth off the west coast of North America and around Hawaii. The 10 largest emitters of oceanic plastic pollution worldwide are, from the most to the least, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, largely through the rivers Yangtze, Indus, Yellow, Hai, Nile, Ganges, Pearl, Amur, Niger, and the Mekong, and accounting for "90 percent of all the plastic that reaches the world's oceans." An estimated 10,000 containers at sea each year are lost by container ships, usually during storms. One spillage occurred in the Pacific Ocean in 1992, when thousands of

title: Gulf of Thailand
text: "Severe erosion", more than five metres of coastline loss per year, afflicts 670 kilometres of that total. At least some of the erosion is attributable to the clearing of mangrove forests to make way for shrimp farms. In February 2017, a 10 kilometer-long patch of plastic refuse was found floating off Chumphon Province. Thailand is among the world's worst plastic polluters. More than half of "land-based plastic-waste leakage" into the sea originates from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Thai Marine and Coastal Resources Department has noted that at least 300 sea animals on average—60

title: Plastic pollution
text: published by "Science", Jambeck "et al" (2015) estimated that the 10 largest emitters of oceanic plastic pollution worldwide are, from the most to the least, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. In a study published by "Environmental Science & Technology", Schmidt "et al" (2017) calculated that the Yangtze, Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, Nile, Ganges, Pearl River, Amur, Niger, and the Mekong "transport 88–95% of the global [plastics] load into the sea." A source that has caused concern is landfills. Most waste in the form of plastic in landfills are single-use items such as

title: South Pacific garbage patch
text: continues, combined with overfishing, will result in plastics outweighing fish in the oceans by 2050. South Pacific garbage patch The South Pacific garbage patch is an area of elevated levels of marine debris and plastic particle pollution, most of which is concentrated within the ocean's pelagic zone. It is located within the South Pacific Gyre, which itself spans from waters east of Australia to the South American continent, as far north as the Equator, and south until reaching the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The degradation of plastics in the ocean also leads to a rise in the level of toxins in

title: Indian Ocean garbage patch
text: Atlantic gyres. On the Indian Ocean leg of their trip, they travelled between Perth, Australia, and Port Louis, Mauritius (east of Madagascar); each of the water samples they collected in the between contained plastic. They found that the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres were affected in the same way as the North Pacific and North Atlantic gyres. Anna Cummins, cofounder of 5 Gyres Institute called the pollution they found "a thin plastic soup". On April 11, 2013, in order to create awareness, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The garbage patch state at UNESCO –Paris in front of

title: Great Pacific garbage patch
text: published in the journal "Science" sought to discover where exactly all of this garbage is coming from. According to the researchers, the discarded plastics and other debris floats eastward out of countries in Asia from six primary sources: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Thailand. On 9 September 2018, the first collection system was deployed to the gyre to begin the collection task. This initial trial run of the Ocean Cleanup Project started towing its "Ocean Cleanup System 001" from San Francisco to a trial site some 240 nautical miles (260 miles) away. The Great Pacific garbage patch

title: Marine debris
text: worlds ocean currents. On 11 April 2013 in order to create awareness, artist Maria Cristina Finucci founded The Garbage patch state at UNESCO –Paris in front of Director General Irina Bokova. First of a series of events under the patronage of UNESCO and of Italian Ministry of the Environment. Forty-eight plastics manufacturers from 25 countries, are members of the Global Plastic Associations for solutions on Marine Litter, have made the pledge to help prevent marine debris and to encourage recycling. Marine debris is a problem created by all of us, not only those in coastal regions. Ocean debris can come

title: Plastic pollution
text: coast of Japan and the latter between Hawaii and California. The two garbage patches are both part of the great Pacific garbage patch, and are connected through a section of plastic debris off the northern coast of the Hawaiian islands. It is approximated that these garbage patches contain 100 million tons of debris. The waste is not compact, and although most of it is near the surface of the pacific, it can be found up to more than 100 feet deep in the water. Research published in April 2017 reported "the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world"

title: Bali
text: mile stretch of coastline in plastic waste brought in by the tide, amid concerns that the pollution could dissuade visitors from returning. Indonesia is one of the world's worst plastic polluters, with some estimates suggesting that the 260 million-population, 3,000-mile-wide, 17,000-island archipelago is the source of around 10 per cent of the world's plastic waste. Indonesia’s capital city Jakarta features several huge rubbish dumps and it is common to see swaths of plastics bobbing on the city's few waterways. The province is divided into eight regencies ("kabupaten") and one city ("kota"). These are: In 1970s, the Balinese economy was largely

title: The Ocean Cleanup
text: of the input stemming from rivers in Asia. In December 2017, they published a paper in "Environmental Science & Technology" about pollutants in oceanic plastic, based upon data from the Mega Expedition. They found that 84% of their plastic samples had at least one PBT chemical with concentrations exceeding safe levels. Furthermore, they found 180 times more plastic than naturally occurring biomass on the surface in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. On March 22, 2018, The Ocean Cleanup published a paper in "Scientific Reports", summarizing the combined findings from the Mega- and Aerial Expedition. They estimate that the Patch contains

title: Sustainable Development Goals
text: pollution caused by humans. It has been found that 95 percent of fulmars in Norway have plastic parts in their guts. Microplastics are another form of marine pollution. Individuals can help the oceans by reducing their energy consumption and their use of plastics. Nations can also take action. In Norway, for instance, citizens, working through a web page called finn.no, can earn money for picking up plastic on the beach. Several countries, including Kenya, have banned the use of plastic bags for retail purchases. Improving the oceans contributes to poverty reduction, as it gives low-income families a source of income

title: Waste management in Thailand
text: into the sea each year. Plastic bags make up 15 percent, plastic straws account for seven percent, and cigarette butts five percent. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, 150 sea turtles, 100 whales and dolphins, and 12 dugongs die each year from discarded trash, half of which die from eating plastic bags. In June 2017, Thailand pledged at an international forum to reduce plastic use. Thailand admitted waste mismanagement was the major cause of Thailand's poor record. Delegates representing Thailand's military government at the conference committed to put an end to the problem. Accordingly, it has included

title: Indian Ocean garbage patch
text: (NOAA) of the United States. The prediction was based on results obtained by several Alaska-based researchers between 1985 and 1988 that measured neustonic plastic in the North Pacific Ocean. Research studying trash washed onto beaches in and around the Indian Ocean suggested that there would be plastics found in the water column in the Indian Ocean as well. In 2010, the 5 Gyres Project set off on the first of its planned series of transoceanic voyages to determine whether the South Atlantic, South Pacific, and Indian Ocean gyres were affected in the same way as the North Pacific and North

title: Marine debris
text: from as far away as Nebraska. The places that see the most damage are often not the places that produce the pollution. For ocean pollution, much of the trash may come from inland states, where people may never see the ocean and thus may never put any thought into protecting it. The problem continues to grow in tandem with plastics usage and disposal. Steps can be taken to prevent the movement of inland plastics into the oceans. Plastic debris from inland states come from two main sources: ordinary litter and materials from open dumps and landfills that blow or wash

title: South Pacific garbage patch
text: first time the South Pacific gyre had been sampled for plastic pollution. From March to April 2011, following a route based on a model of ocean currents developed by Nikolia Maximenko of the University of Hawaii, which predicts floating debris accumulation zones. The expedition started taking samples off the coast of Robinson Crusoe Island, Chile, and began working its way west, collecting a new sample each 50 nautical miles, reaching the waters off Easter Island, and eventually Pitcairn Island. A second water sampling voyage departing from Long Beach, California, launching November 2, 2016, and lasting approximately six months, was led

title: Marine debris
text: waste are dumped in the world's oceans each year. Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons. Plastic waste has reached all the world's oceans. This plastic pollution harms an estimated 100,000 sea turtles and marine mammals and 1,000,000 sea creatures each year. Larger plastics (called "macroplastics") such as plastic shopping bags can clog the digestive tracts of larger animals when consumed by them and can cause starvation through restricting the movement of food, or by filling the stomach and tricking the animal into thinking it is full. Microplastics on

title: Great Pacific garbage patch
text: be cleaned up in five years' time, amounting to at least 7.25 million tons of plastic across all gyres. He also advocated "radical plastic pollution prevention methods" to prevent gyres from reforming. In 2015, The Ocean Cleanup project was a category winner in the Design Museum's 2015 Designs of the Year awards. A fleet of 30 vessels, including a 32-metre (105-foot) mothership, took part in a month-long voyage to determine how much plastic is present using trawls and aerial surveys. The 2012 Algalita/5 Gyres Asia Pacific Expedition began in the Marshall Islands on 1 May, investigated the patch, collecting samples

title: Plastic pollution
text: on remote and uninhabited Henderson Island in South Pacific as a result of the South Pacific Gyre. The beaches contain an estimated 37.7 million items of debris together weighing 17.6 tonnes. In a study transect on North Beach, each day 17 to 268 new items washed up on a 10-metre section. The study noted that purple hermit crabs ("Coenobita spinosus") make their homes in plastic containers washed up on beaches. A 2017 study found that 83% of tap water samples taken around the world contained plastic pollutants. This was the first study to focus on global drinking water pollution with

title: Plastic pollution
text: conclusions identified a potential solution in reducing plastic pollution. With education and awareness, people can begin to clean the rivers and waters, and make them a safe place for sea animals to live. Estimates for the contribution of land-based plastic vary widely. While one study estimated that a little over 80% of plastic debris in ocean water comes from land-based sources, responsible for every year. In 2015, Jambeck et al. calculated that of plastic waste was generated in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with 4.8 to entering the ocean - a percentage of only up to 5%. In a study

title: Gulf of Thailand
text: per cent of which are whales and dolphins—die from eating plastic fishing gear and trash each year. Filter feeding invertebrates tested off the coast of Chonburi Province showed high levels of microplastics, leading the authors to warn that, "Health risks are possible when people consume these contaminated marine organisms, particularly shellfish." Thailand's Pollution Control Department (PCD) estimates that plastic waste in the country is increasing at an annual rate of 12 percent, or around two million tonnes per year. The gulf's many coral reefs have made it attractive to divers. The tropical warmth of the water attracts many tourists. Some