Plastic pollution drives flooding and puts millions at risk, warns research

28 Jun 2023 --- Plastic pollution aggravates flood risks, finds a new report commissioned by Tearfund and produced by Resource Futures. As climate change makes rainfall events more intense and frequent, plastic pollution is blocking drainage systems in poor urban areas, posing danger to communities living in flood-risk areas.

Two hundred eighteen million people are at high risk of plastic-aggravated flooding worldwide. Of these, 41 million are infants, elderly people or people with disabilities who are at particularly high risk of severe health impacts, say the organizations. 

In 1988 it was reported that plastic bags blocking waterways in Bangladesh contributed to devastating flooding, with two-thirds of the country submerged.

Since then, several research studies have increased understanding of the extent of plastic-aggravated flooding, but to date, no research has attempted to quantify how many people globally are at risk of plastic-aggravated flooding events.

Rich Gower, senior economist and policy associate at Tearfund, says: “Around the world, from Brazil to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Malawi to Bangladesh, we see plastic pollution making floods worse. As this report shows, at present, it is the poorest communities who are bearing the brunt of the plastics crisis.”

Poor urban areas are disproportionally affected by floods caused by waterway blockages.A worsening and disproportionate issue
The floodings are largely caused by recent increases in plastic waste, which doubled globally between 2000-2019, coupled with poor solid waste management, explains Christian charity Tearfund.

Densely populated slums in South Asia, East Asia and Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa are likely to be experiencing the worst effects of plastic-aggravated flooding due to rapid, poorly planned development with limited flood mitigation infrastructure. 

The report finds that people in urban poverty will most likely be impacted by health-related issues due to flooding.

Children are twice as likely to ingest polluted flood water leading to enteric infections. Flooding events pose both immediate and long-term dangers to human health. Cholera and other gastrointestinal infections are the major health risks. Skin infections, vector-borne (e.g., mosquito) diseases and mental health issues have also been associated with flooding, but the relationship remains poorly understood. 

Furthermore, mismanaged plastic waste will continue to increase globally under a “business-as-usual scenario,” particularly in Africa and Asia, assert the organizations. Over one billion people currently live in slums globally and this is expected to reach three billion by 2050. 

Due to climate change, precipitation events are becoming more intense, with increased rainfall occurring over shorter periods, predicts Tearfund.

UN plastics treaty Children are twice as likely to ingest polluted flood water leading to enteric infections. 
With UN member states currently negotiating a global treaty on plastic pollution, the main objective of research is to bring to light new evidence on plastic-aggravated flooding events and the negative consequences these events have on human health.

Further research to fully understand these impacts is needed and is directly in line with the core obligations proposed for the global plastics treaty, which focuses on understanding how plastic pollution impacts human health. 

Tearfund and Resource Futures stress that the negative health impacts associated with plastic-aggravated flooding are largely avoidable. 

A greater understanding of the composition, quantity and behavior of plastic pollution in drainage systems in urban areas of low- and middle-income countries, and the critical connection this has to human health, would shed light on key mitigating actions, they find.

“Action to eliminate problematic plastics and improve waste management would clearly be beneficial, particularly to marginalized communities,” say the charity and environmental consultancy.

“Through the plastics treaty, world leaders have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end this crisis by driving down plastic production and making sure the rest is safely collected and recycled. Without decisive action, this problem is only going to get worse,” concludes Gower.

By Natalie Schwertheim