29-04-2010 par Nicolas JennyThe Carribean : The United Nations organises ocean waste sorting

From the 1st of May 2011, boats navigating in the zone of the Carribean will be banned from disposing certain types of waste overboard.

This decision was taken by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) during its 60th meeting last March. This means that the Carribean will become the 6th protected zone of marine waste originating from ships. The other zones include the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Antartic zone and the Gulf and Mediterranean regions. In the region of the Carribean, 25 countries are members of the MARPOL convention which aims to prevent the pollution of waterways by ships. MARPOL’s six annexes cover the principle sources of maritime pollution. Annex five will contain the articles prohibiting the disposal of maritime waste in the Carribean region. Annex five prohibits the disposal of all types of plastics but permits, under certain conditions the disposal of other types of waste. These include human waste, paper, metal etc. – except in the case of certain special areas.

                                        

A study caried out by the United Nations for the environment estimated that waste such as fishing nets, plastics, ropes, electronic appliances, etc. account for at least 11% of all marine waste in the Carribean region. This number does not even include waste which was disposed of by boats navigating the area. It only takes into account waste originating from coastal areas such as glass, metal and paper. We must remember that 40% of internationalal commercial shipping spend more than one day a year navigating this region which makes up 3.3 million squared kiliometres and spans from the United States to French Guiyana.

 

It is critical that garbage such as plastic bags be considered as a destructive form of pollution. To address this issue please sign the petition at:  www.pasdecasurnosplages.com