Dive Brief:

• Scientists at a recent conference held at the University of Vermont at Burlington bemoaned the lasting negative impacts of plastic waste that ends up in the Great Lakes. Plastic doesn’t break down, and is ingested by fish and other animals, the experts noted.
• Plastic is found in beaches of the Great Lakes, and the debris could stay in those beaches and lakes for hundreds of years since it doesn’t decompose, experts at the conference said.
• Lorena Rios Mendoza of the University of Wisconsin-Superior called for the need for scientists to study how lake organisms are affected after they ingest plastic.

Dive Insight:

While various companies are working to collect and recycle ocean plastic, it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the constant depositing of the material into waterways. But the key to at least slowing this growing problem in our oceans, rivers and lakes is coming up with solutions for stopping more plastic from getting into the waterways in the first place.