Not only in our country but also globally, marine litter is a significant environmental issue. Especially in remote islands where human access is difficult, it is not easy to clean up the garbage. Just in Chungnam Province, nearly 20 billion won is allocated this year to clean up the garbage. Transparent reporter reports. The coastal area of Taean Peninsula, surrounded by rugged mountains, is covered with a long belt of marine litter. The types of waste range from non-recyclable waste to household waste washed up from China. In particular, finely fragmented microplastics can disrupt the ecosystem if consumed by fish. The cost of handling these wastes is over 1 million won per ton, more than three times higher than general marine litter. Even in sparsely populated island areas, the situation is similar. In the sea, plastics and discarded tires are collected one after another.

Mistakes occur in the ocean and it is difficult, so trash carried by the wind flows into the ocean. When trash enters, it is easy to come in but difficult to get out because there are many structures where trash can easily enter but cannot easily escape. There is a lot of garbage accumulation due to this situation. In Chungnam Province alone, the amount of marine trash generated last year was over 3,000 tons, and it continues to increase every year. This year alone, 112 billion won has been allocated just for collecting and processing it, including the budget for building marine trash transport ships and recycling facilities, totaling 193 billion won. Marine trash is difficult to recycle due to the mixed nature of the waste, so it is mostly incinerated, making the environmental destruction even more severe. However, it is entirely possible to recycle plastics or other materials like stamps. In order to increase recycling rates, it is necessary to separate and recycle before recycling.

An ocean resources circulation center is currently being established to remove such pollution. Chungnam Province is gearing up for the collection equipment and taking a full-fledged approach to marine litter, such as establishing a map of marine litter using drones. This is MBC News, Jo Hyeong-che.

서해안 오지 '쓰레기 몸살'..처리에만 2백억/대전MBC

새로워진 대전MBC 뉴스 공식 유튜브 채널입니다. 여러분의 제보와 참여로 더 좋은 세상을 만들어 나갑니다. 
📱카카오톡 제보: ‘대전MBC뉴스’ http://pf.kakao.com/_GxjWxiC
☎️제보: 080-800-3030