Publication: The Costs of Environmental Degradation from Plastic Pollution in Selected Coastal Areas in the United Republic of Tanzania: Technical Report
Date
2023-03-16
ISSN
Published
2023-03-16
Author(s)
McIlgorm, Alistair
Xie, Jian
Abstract
Plastic waste negatively impacts
ecosystems, public health, and local economies in Tanzania.
For example, marine plastic and microplastic wastes
contaminate beaches, sea grass areas and coral reef
habitats, lower the quality of marine ecosystems and
biodiversity, and endanger bird and marine wildlife through
entanglement and the ingestion of plastics of different
sizes. They also endanger human health through food chains.
Valuation of the costs of environmental degradation (COED)
from marine plastic pollution helps the country to
understand the scale of the impacts and prioritize
activities for mitigation of these impacts. This study
developed the methodology to estimate the COED in the
selected coastal areas in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. It is
the first of its kind for valuing the impacts of marine
plastic wastes on local economic sectors, public health, and
marine ecosystems. The valuation results reveal that marine
plastics pollution causes a net economic cost to the local
economic activities, especially tourism, and the natural
environment of study areas, and that in some areas costs can
be quite significant. The analysis of the costs across study
areas and sectors is useful for prioritizing marine plastic
pollution management activities.
Citation
“McIlgorm, Alistair; Xie, Jian. 2023. The Costs of Environmental Degradation from Plastic Pollution in Selected Coastal Areas in the United Republic of Tanzania : Technical Report. © World Bank, Washington DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/39547 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”