An analysis of a thousand tonnes of trash from the Norwegian coast concluded that around 80% of it comes from Norwegian sources, and not necessarily from other countries.
“We Norwegians are to blame for almost 80% of the plastic waste we find along the beaches, islets, and reefs,” Rolf-Ørjan Høgset from the environmental organization In The Same Boat told newspaper Klassekampen.
The organization has analyzed the waste it has picked up along the coast since 2017, and the result dispels the myth that poor countries litter the oceans and that the plastic gets transported from industries in Europe and Asia.
“We found nothing from Asia. A little came from the coastal states near us, but Norwegians are the main source,” Høgset noted.
“Need for preventive measures”
The findings show that 70% of the plastic waste comes from the fishing industry, 10% from aquaculture, approximately 10% from industry, including petroleum, and close to 5% from households.
Marius Storli, who heads the ship service company North Agency, says that there is a need for preventive measures, in addition to beach cleaning.
He says that the Norwegian maritime industries do not want to pollute but that there are not always good alternatives.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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