For Samantha MacBride's policy class. Plastic pollution is a "wicked problem," and policies and other interventions have to take this into account when attempting to deal with the issue. What problems do certain policies and interventions actually solve? Do they solve plastic pollution, or only one small aspect of the issue?

1. Plastic pollution policies? Or, how to “solve” a wicked problem.
Max Liboiron
ABD, Media, Culture and Communication
New York University
Coordinator, Plastic Pollution Coalition East Coast Chapter

2. Wicked problems
Image from “Question everything blog”

3. Ocean plastics
NOAA

4. Ocean plastics: a soup
Left: image by Max Liboiron
Right: image from 5 Gyres

5. Macroplastics
Image: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National
Monument-NOAA

6. Micoplastics
Image by Handsands in the Sand via Flickr

9. Problems with ocean plastics: entanglements
Left: image by Jim Patterson
Right: Image by NOAA

10. Problems with ocean plastics: hitchhikers & invasive species
Left: Image from Science Safe Kid’s Museum
Right: image by Lindsay Hoshaw

11. Problems with ocean plastics: ingestion
Top: Image from 5 gyres
Lower corner: from Browne et al “Ingested Microscopic Plastic Translocates to the
Circulatory System of the Mussel, Mytilusedulis (L.)” 2008.

12. Problems with ocean plastics: ingestion
Image by Chris Jordan

13. Problems with ocean plastics: ingestion
Image from Richard Thompson, Plymouth University

14. Source
OSPAR 2009

15. Chemical structure of plastic
Left:Ethene-polythene-Chem, Dept StAugustines
Right: Wypych, George, Handbook of Plasticizers 2004

16. Endocrine disruptors

17. Endocrine disruptors

18. Endocrine disruptors

19. Longevity: POPs
NRDC

20. Longevity: POPs
NRDC

21. Forever and Everywhere
Left: Barnes et al 2009.
Right: EWG analysis of CDC measurements of BPA in urine from Calafat
et al. 2005

22. MARIPOL

23. REACH

24. Green Chemistry

25. Precautionary Principal

26. bioplastics