More than 13 000 plastic items were documented in the 12-day expedition from Pringle Bay to Struisbaai

South Africa discharges up to 250 000 tonnes of rubbish into the oceans every year

The environment department’s Source-to-Sea initiative will create 1 600 work opportunities

The cost in damage to the marine ecosystems is $13-billion each year

A key focus at the IIOE-2 and SANOCEAN conferences was the issue of marine plastics

South Africa’s apathetic attitude to plastic use requires an intervention — but what would work here?