> Also, most of the ocean plastic comes from a small number of rivers in the less developed world. [1] Rich countries aren't really the problem. I don't have a

> Also, most of the ocean plastic comes from a small number of rivers in the less developed world. [1] Rich countries aren't really the problem. I don't have a source for this, so take it for what it's worth, but as I recall rich countries remain a significant part of the problem. TFA mentions it, but, iirc, the US used to ship its plastic waste to China for recycling, but the "single stream" approach to recycling resulted in a contaminated waste stream that was more expensive to handle. So China stopped accepting our recyclable waste. In turn, we started shipping our recyclables to Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries instead. They're happy for the business, but they don't have the infra to handle the amount of waste we're sending, and general mismanagement is widely recognized [0]. As a result US plastic waste intended for "recycling" ends up in dump sites, landfills, etc. in SEA countries and eventially accumulates in rivers, sewers, and eventually the ocean. I don't disagree with you regarding landfills. There was a post here recently that seemed to lean more towards just throwing plastic away, that way it ends up in a landfill, rather than "recycling" it and having it end up in the ocean by way of the Philippines [0] https://www.pemsea.org/publications/reports/reducing-plastic-waste-philippines-assessment-policies-and-regulations-guide https://www.pemsea.org/publications/reports/reducing-plastic...