Modern plastic is increasingly polluting the Arctic

One of the reasons for the emergence of a new type of waste for the region is the rapid development of the Northern Sea Route.

Ruslan Gubaidullin, head of the Clean Arctic project, said that when cleaning up garbage that has been accumulating in the Arctic since the middle of the last century, volunteers are increasingly confronted with an impressive amount of modern plastic. It is brought and thrown ashore by the waves of the sea.

"This is a very alarming fact! Obviously, the problem is related to the active development of the Northern Sea Route in recent years. There are more large ships with a large crew on board, far from all of them adhere to strict environmental standards," the press service of the project quotes the words Gubaidullin.

However, almost half of the drifting and beached plastic is in the recycled and conditionally recycled polymer fractions. Thus, at least 40% of such garbage can be used as recyclables.

Andrey Nagibin, the leader of the environmental movement in Russia, in turn noted that for several years now there has been a trend towards an increase in cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route.

"In 2021, the volume of traffic reached a record, exceeding 33.5 million tons. In the first half of 2022, more than 22 million tons were transported. In general, we welcome the active development of this important transport artery. But the risks to the environment are also noticeably increasing," - he declared.

Nagibin urged shipowners, captains and crew members operating in the northern latitudes to be extremely responsible and strictly observe environmental rules.

"Stop barbarously nullifying the heroic efforts of the Clean Arctic project volunteers. We must return the Russian Arctic coast to its original appearance and make sure that our Arctic remains clean from now on and forever," the Clean Arctic press service quoted him as saying.