Drive to clean up marine litter near urban areas shows results

China has made remarkable progress in clearing marine litter in bays close to urban areas, with most such garbage cleaned following a dedicated campaign launched last year, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The campaign began in June 2024 after four national government bodies, including the ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission, jointly unveiled an action plan vowing to carry out a comprehensive three-year marine debris cleanup initiative across 65 bays near urban areas across the country.

In a news conference on Wednesday, Zhang Zhifeng, deputy head of the ministry's Department of Marine Ecology and Environment, disclosed that monitoring by drone aerial photography shows the average coverage of shoreline marine litter in these bays has decreased from over 0.5 percent last summer to roughly 0.13 percent in the first quarter of this year.

A total of 157 coastal sections, spanning about 126 kilometers, where marine debris was concentrated, were identified and cleaned up, he continued.

Zhang noted various modes that local authorities have applied to help clean up marine litter.

In Zhejiang province, for instance, a program dubbed Blue Circle has been tapping into digital technologies such as the Internet of Things and blockchain to promote marine plastic collection.

It enables individuals to visually monitor the entire process of sustainable waste management, from recycling to reuse, and also makes them economically benefit from collecting marine garbage.

With the use of an app, people can sell the marine plastic they collect at a price higher than the market price. The raw materials made from the waste plastic will be authenticated and then sold at higher prices.

Under the program, 36 marine litter collecting points have been established across Zhejiang, covering all coastal prefecture-level areas and counties in the province. To date, 50,800 metric tons of marine litter have been collected, Zhang said.