For decades, the increase in garbage in the sea has been drawing the attention of environmental entities. According to estimates by international bodies, 80% of this waste comes from the earth, which makes it clear that the participation of the whole society, with education and awareness, is fundamental in the fight against ocean garbage.
Launched in March 2019 by the federal government, the National Plan to Combat Garbage at Sea carried out 400 collective efforts and removed 274.2 tons of waste from the ocean until January this year. In terms of comparison, it’s like pulling 55 vans out of the water. The plan counts on the participation of public authorities, civil society organizations, the private sector, educational institutions, among others.
“Remembering that, in 2020 and 2021, we had an effect of the pandemic, in which many beaches were closed. In some places, actions were postponed until sanitary conditions could be met. Even so, it is an expressive number”, says André França, Secretary of Environmental Quality of the Ministry of the Environment.
The plan was being developed since 2008, it was presented to the UN (United Nations) in 2017, but only came into action in 2019. It covers the 17 coastal states, with approximately 8,500 km in length.
The secretary also highlights that there is still a need for greater involvement of society so that the actions can give positive results.
“People’s awareness is more than necessary. Adopting a conscious behavior when going to the beach, not leaving the garbage behind, taking it to where it can be disposed of properly, preferably separating the recycled from the organic, all this contributed to the garbage do not reach the sea”, he says.
The actions of the Ministry of the Environment’s initiative can be monitored by a monitor on the ministry’s website. He points out the participants of the task forces. One of the most active is Instituto Limpa Brasil. In partnership with the federal government, there were 67 collective efforts, with 176,565 items taken from the sea.
“When we went to do the first action, in 2011, in Rio de Janeiro, we were banned with the threat of being arrested. Eleven years have passed and today we can see that there is an engagement and a connection, including the public authorities, with the cities, to that these joint efforts are carried out. There have been several advances”, says Edilainne Pereira, executive director of Instituto Limpa Brasil.
For years working in the fight against garbage at sea, Edilainne also emphasizes the importance of raising awareness among citizens. “There may be treaties and public policies, but if I do not exercise my role as a citizen, these two ends do not move. If I am a citizen aware of my responsibility, exercise my role, I can influence the change of public policies and the industrial production policy.
For Alexander Turra, a professor at the Oceanographic Institute at USP, the plan launched by the Ministry of the Environment is a small step forward in combating the problem of garbage in the sea, but many actions still need to be taken, such as those aimed at basic sanitation, for example.
“It is important to point out that other more structuring issues, with more lasting results, were not necessarily put into practice. There is a very large gap in the national discussion process on this theme to achieve orchestrated actions, in harmony both in the federal and state governments and municipal.”
The government of São Paulo also launched, last year, its Strategic Plan for the Monitoring and Evaluation of Garbage in the Sea. It was prepared jointly by the Secretariat of Infrastructure and the Environment and the Oceanographic Institute of USP, financed by the Norwegian Embassy in Brazil. It is in the implementation phase.
According to the secretariat, the plan has a network of approximately 450 members, including representatives of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), universities and public authorities at the three federative levels.
In parallel with the actions promoted by the federal and state governments, other initiatives involving partnerships between public agencies and the private sector seek to minimize the impacts caused by the accumulation of garbage at sea.
The Boticário Group Foundation for Nature Protection, in partnership with the Araucária Foundation for Support to Scientific and Technological Development of Paraná (a body linked to the state government), will allocate R$ 3.7 million in financial support for 19 innovative solutions to challenges in the ocean and coastal regions of Brazil.
Among these solutions is the Igaú project, an initiative of the Federal University of Santa Catarina. The aim of the project is to help coastal communities reduce marine pollution from algae cultivation.
“When we are producing algae, we are producing biomass. This biomass, with low technology, can produce soaps, shampoo, fertilizers. But if the State, companies or public-private partnerships are involved, it can reach from medium to long term to the development of local refineries, generating high quality jobs and producing things that are strategic for Brazil”, says Paulo Antunes Horta Junior, professor at the Department of Botany at UFSC.
“We are now in a fertilizer crisis. Algae are producing fertilizers all the time and solving environmental problems. We’ve had this gem in our hands for decades and we haven’t used it.”
Another program supported by the partnership is Nós da Ação, under the technical responsibility of Unifesp with Instituto Ecosurf, in Bertioga and Guarujá, in Baixada Santista, in SP. The main objective of the program is to work together with fishermen to inform them about the problems they face at sea.
“They go out to fish and return to land with more garbage than shrimp”, says Leandra Gonçalves, a professor at the Instituto do Mar at Unifesp and coordinator of the project. “This garbage today hinders the work of the fisherman. But, if you have the possibility to bring this garbage, you should take advantage of it to make the economy circular.”
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro is among the 19 actions of Fundação Boticário with a program that also involves fishermen. Orla Sem Lixo aims to formulate a work and income model for the community.
“There are about 700 fishermen in Guanabara Bay. If we manage to formulate an adequate model for generating work and income, so that it is attractive and interesting, it can easily multiply. We want to contribute with a solution that can be effective”, he says. the doctor in ocean engineering Susana Vinzon, professor at UFRJ and coordinator of the project.
On March 2, the UN decided to start negotiations for the first global agreement against plastic pollution. A committee will be in charge of preparing a text by 2024. According to experts, this is the biggest environmental advance since the Paris agreement to combat global warming, celebrated in 2015.
“The resolution of the United Nations assembly comes in the sense of creating a treaty to combat the presence of plastic in the environment. This means rethinking a production chain, of value, but also other aspects that are preponderant in the loss of plastic to the environment” , says Alexander Turra.
