Careful handling of marine plastic litter: Technology assessment and care

Sarah Maria Schönbauer

doi:10.14512/tatup.7170

Authors

Sarah Maria Schönbauer Department of Science, Technology and Society, TU München, Munich (DE) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7627-7485 sarah.schoenbauer@tum.de

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.7170

Keywords:

global TA, care, plastic waste, marine litter

Abstract

Waste is a core concern of today’s societies. A prominent example is marine plastic litter, which has devastating impacts on ocean ecosystems. But: How can technology assessment (TA) support a careful handling of plastic waste in the sea? And what can care concepts contribute to the practice of TA in this context? In this article, I show that care concepts can help understand the complexity of waste management as well as the environments involved, regulation processes, and technical innovations. Moreover, care concepts could benefit TA practice by sensitizing it not only to cultural, regional, and global concerns, but also to the distribution of responsibility and marginalization processes.

References

Bellou, Nikoleta et al. (2021): Global assessment of innovative solutions to tackle marine litter. In: Nature Sustainability 4 (6), pp. 516–524. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00726-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00726-2

Bergmann, Melanie (n.d.): En route to a global UN agreement against the plastic flood. Available online at https://www.awi.de/en/focus/marine-litter/un-plastics-treaty.html, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Bergmann, Melanie; Gutow, Lars; Klages, Michael (eds.) (2015): Marine anthropogenic litter. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3

Bergmann, Melanie et al. (2023): Moving from symptom management to upstream plastics prevention. The fallacy of plastic cleanup technology. In: One Earth 6 (11), pp. 1439–1442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.10.022

Bergmann, Sven (2019): Die Sorge um verwickelte Dinge von Belang. Plastik im Ozean und im Alltag. In: Beate Binder et al. (eds.): Care. Praktiken und Politiken der Fürsorge. Leverkusen: Budrich, pp. 247–262. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvg5bt2t.17 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvg5bt2t.17

Bergmann, Sven (2021): Dawn of the plastisphere. An experiment with unpredictable effects. In: Trisia Farrelly, Sy Taffel and Ian Shaw (eds.): Plastic legacies. Pollution, persistence, and politics. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, pp. 79–100.

Böschen, Stefan; Dewald, Ulrich (2018): TA als Kontextualisierungsexpertise. Zwischen einfachem und reflexivem Modus. In: TATuP - Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice 27 (1), pp. 34–39. https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.27.1.34 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.27.1.34

Böschen, Stefan; Grunwald, Armin; Krings, Bettina-Johanna; Rösch, Christine (eds.) (2021): Technikfolgenabschätzung. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Praxis. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748901990

De Wolff, Kim (2014): Gyre plastic. Science, circulation and the matter of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Dissertation). San Diego, CA: University of California. Available online at https://escholarship.org/content/qt21w9h64q/qt21w9h64q_noSplash_b1fea94f663b391f3a7ece6aa12a4f77.pdf, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Dey, Tridibesh; Michael, Mike (2021): Plastic possibilities. Contrasting the uses of plastic ‘waste’ in India. In: Anthropology Today 37 (3), pp. 11–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12652 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12652

Elhacham, Emily et al. (2020): Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass. In: Nature 588 (7838), pp. 442–444. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5

Ely, Adrian; Van Zwanenberg, Patrick; Stirling, Andrew (2011): New models of technology assessment for development. Sussex: University of Sussex. Available online at https://hdl.handle.net/10779/uos.23383811.v1, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Galgani, Francois et al. (2010): Marine strategy framework directive. Task group 10 report marine litter. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Available online at https://mcc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/201406241437.pdf, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Grunwald, Armin (2002): Technikfolgenabschätzung. Eine Einführung. Berlin: edition sigma.

Hahn, Julia; Ladikas, Miltos (2021): Auf dem Weg zu Global Technology Assessment. In: Böschen et al. (eds.) Technikfolgenabschätzung. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Praxis. Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 457–466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748901990-457

Hansson, Sven (ed.) (2022): Editorial. In: TATuP - Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice 31 (3). https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.31.3.3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.31.3.3

Hennen, Leonhard et al. (2023): Technology assessment in a globalized world. Facing the challenges of transnational technology governance. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10617-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10617-0

Knoblauch, Doris; Mederake, Linda (2024): The missing consensus. An analysis of problem definitions and key motivations in the first zero draft for a global plastics treaty. In: Cambridge Prisms: Plastics 2 (22), pp. 1‑12. https://doi.org/10.1017/plc.2024.29 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/plc.2024.29

Lachmann, Florina et al. (2017): Marine plastic litter on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Impacts and measures. Gothenburg: Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16168.37121

Ladikas, Miltos; Stamm, Andreas (2023): Technology assessment in a multilateral science, technology and innovation system. In: Leonhard Hennen et al. (eds.): Technology assessment in a globalized world. Facing the challenges of transnational technology governance. Cham: Springer, pp. 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10617-0_3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10617-0_3

Liboiron, Max (2016): Redefining pollution and action. The matter of plastics. In: Journal of material culture 21 (1), pp. 87–110. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183515622966 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183515622966

Liboiron, Max (2019): Waste is not “matter out of place”. In: Discard Studies, 09.09.2019. Available online at https://discardstudies.com/2019/09/09/waste-is-not-matter-out-of-place/, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Lindén, Linda; Lydahl, Doris (2021): Care in STS. In: Nordic Journal of Science and Technology Studies 9 (1), pp. 3‑12. https://doi.org/10.5324/njsts.v9i1.4000 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5324/njsts.v9i1.4000

Martin, Aryn; Myers, Natasha; Viseu, Ana (2015): The politics of care in technoscience. In: Social Studies of Science 45 (5), pp. 625–641. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715602073 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715602073

Mol, Annemarie (2008): The logic of care. Health and the problem of patient choice. New York, NY: Routledge.

Mol, Annemarie; Moser, Ingunn; Pols, Jeannette (2010): Care in practice. On tinkering in clinics, homes and farms. Bielefeld: transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/transcript.9783839414477 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14361/transcript.9783839414477

Murphy, Michelle (2015): Unsettling care: Troubling transnational itineraries of care in feminist health practices. In: Social Studies of Science 45 (5), pp. 717–737. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715589136 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715589136

Napper, Imogen; Pahl, Sabine; Thompson, Richard (2021): Marine litter. Are there solutions to this global environmental problem? In: Trisia Farrelly, Sy Taffel and Ian Shaw (eds.): Plastic legacies. Pollution, persistence, and politics. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, pp. 25–40. https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993272.01 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771993272.01

Puig de la Bellacasa, María (2010): Ethical doings in naturecultures. In: Ethics Place and Environment 13 (2), pp. 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668791003778834 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13668791003778834

Puig de la Bellacasa, María (2011): Matters of care in technoscience. Assembling neglected things. In: Social Studies of Science 41 (1), pp. 85–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312710380301 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312710380301

Puig de la Bellacasa, María (2015): Making time for soil. Technoscientific futurity and the pace of care. In: Social Studies of Science 45 (5), pp. 691–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715599851 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715599851

Schlitz, Nicolas (2020): Environmental change and the informal plastic recycling networks of Kolkata. In: Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 41 (3), pp. 450–467. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12324 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12324

Schönbauer, Sarah (2024): Environmental care. How scientists relate to environmental changes. In: Minerva, pp. 1‑21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-024-09538-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-024-09538-y

Shotwell, Alexis (2016): Against purity. Living ethically in compromised times. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

The Ocean Cleanup (2024): The largest cleanup in history. Available online at https://theoceancleanup.com, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Thompson, Richard et al. (2004): Lost at sea. Where is all the plastic? In: Science 304 (5672), p. 838. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094559 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1094559

Töpfer, Klaus; Ufer, Ulrich (2019): Globale Umweltpolitik. Interview mit Klaus Töpfer. In: TATuP – Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice 28 (2), pp. 64–68. https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.28.2.s64 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14512/tatup.28.2.s64

Tronto, Joan (1993): Moral boundaries. A political argument for an ethic of care. New York, NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003070672 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003070672

UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme (2022): UNEA resolution 5/14 entitled “End plastic pollution. Towards an international legally binding instrument”. Available online at https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/sites/default/files/plastics-policies/50011_I_2022_UNEA_5.14.pdf, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

World Economic Forum; Ellen MacArthur Foundation; McKinsey & Company (2016): The new plastics economy. Rethinking the future of plastics. Available online at https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/the-new-plastics-economy-rethinking-the-future-of-plastics, last accessed on 31.01.2025.

Willmer, Gareth (2022): Beach bots, sea ‘raptors’ and marine toolsets mobilised to get rid of marine litter. In: Horizon – The EU Research & Innovation Magazine, 09.02.2022. Available online at https://projects.research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/en/horizon-magazine/beach-bots-sea-raptors-and-marine-toolsets-mobilised-get-rid-marine-litter, last accessed on 31.01.2025.