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Central American Beaches Are Being Overrun With Local and Foreign Plastic


A study of plastic bottles washed up on the Pacific coast of Latin America has identified a double problem—a mass of local waste combined with long-traveling bottles from Asia.

Although volunteers found numerous bottles dating back more than a decade, “most of them were less than a year old,” says scientist Ostin Garcés, an expert on the impact of plastic on marine ecosystems at the University of Barcelona and a lead author of this new research. Plastic makes up the majority of the garbage on coastlines around the world and has reached even the most inhospitable corners of the planet, including the deepest parts of the oceans and both the Arctic and Antarctic. Demanding reusable packaging and accountability from large producers of bottled drinks are essential strategies to reduce plastic pollution and protect coastal ecosystems, say the authors.

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