Between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic debris per year enters the ocean, of which approximately 83% originates in only 20 countries with China, Indonesia and the Philippines topping the list of marine plastic polluters (Jambeck ef al. The impacts of plastic debris include entanglement of birds, turtles and marine mammals, as well as marine animals' ingestion of plastic fragments, resulting in blocking of the digestive system. The fact that plastics persist for very long periods and are largely insoluble has significant implications for human health (Roy eta/. 2011).