QCOSTARICA — The proximity of the city and ocean currents may explain why Costa Rica’s Pacific beaches, specifically Puntarenas and other similar beaches in Central America, are among the most contaminated by plastic bottles on the continent.
A study involving scientists from the Universidad Nacional (UNA), volunteers, and local schoolchildren determined the unfortunate finding by comparing data with teams from other countries.
The research, conducted by the Científicos de la Basura (Trash Scientists) program, developed by the Catholic University of Northern Chile, covered 92 continental beaches, 15 island beaches, and 38 cities in 10 Latin American countries, from Chile to Mexico, with the participation of 74 institutions and more than 1,000 volunteers.
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“Central American beaches had the highest abundance of collected items, which could be explained by the trash generated in nearby cities and the possible influence of ocean currents, which carry bottles from other regions. El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama had the highest abundances on continental beaches, while Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador recorded the lowest,” according to the report.
To conduct the study, the researchers averaged the number of bottle caps, bottles, and bottles with caps found in cities, on continental beaches, and island beaches.
For example, in Ecuador, between 0.5 and 0.9 items were found per person per minute on continental beaches, while in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, which had the highest rates of plastic pollution, the average found per person per minute ranged between 1.7 and 2.3 items, with El Salvador reporting the highest level of pollution, with 3 items on the same scale.
The research used Puntarenas beach in Costa Rica as a reference.
In the case of cities, Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador found between 0.3 and 0.9 items per minute per person, while in Costa Rica, the average was between 1.0 and 1.6 items.
The sampling was carried out following methodological guidelines designed and delivered by Trash Scientists to each local coordinator, who conducted the research with schoolchildren or groups of adult volunteers between July 2023 and February 2024, and the data was presented this month.
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Juan Manuel Muñoz, a biologist with the Pacific Marine Park Program at the School of Biological Sciences of the Universidad Nacional (ECB-UNA), explained the data for Costa Rica.
“Generally speaking, the greatest abundance of this waste was found on the Pacific beaches, particularly in Puntarenas and El Roble. Remember that the Tárcoles River carries a lot of waste from the city, and this would generate a higher concentration of this waste,” said Muñoz.
The upper reaches of the Tárcoles River are made up of two major rivers: the Virilla and the Rio Grande, which join to form the Tárcoles River until it flows into the Pacific Ocean.
In Costa Rica, loose plastic bottles and bottle caps were the predominant litter on beaches and urban areas. Furthermore, Costa Rica shares with the oceanic islands and Panama the unique characteristic that a significant portion of this waste comes from other countries, especially China, North America, and Europe, suggesting that ocean currents and illegal maritime trafficking contribute to the accumulation of trash on Costa Rican coasts, the report indicated.
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What to do?
These are some of the recommendations the report offers to reduce pollution.
- Promote Extended Producer Responsibility. Encourage major beverage companies to adopt effective extended producer responsibility programs.
- International collaboration. Strengthen global agreements, such as the Global Plastics Treaty being negotiated by the United Nations, to reduce pollution and protect vulnerable ecosystems.
- Reduce the use of single-use plastics. Encourage the replacement of plastic bottles with more sustainable options, such as returnable containers, especially for single-serve beverages, in a standard format.
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