1Md. Noushad Hossain, 2A.S.M Saifullah, 3Md. Samrat Hossain, 4Md. Shafiul Islam, 5Md. Hasanur Habib
1Department of Geography: Global Change and Sustainability, Universitätsring 1, 1010 Wien, Vienna
2Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Tech-nology University, Tangail-1902, Bangladesh
3Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust, Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
4Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Univer-sity of Padova, Via Marzolo, 9 – 35131 Padova, Italy
5Department of Biology: Environmental Sustainability and Education, University of Padova, Via 8 Feb-braio, 2 – 35122 Padova, Italy
Abstract
Plastic pollution in an aquatic ecosystem may have detrimental effects on ecology and aquatic species. Plastics produced on land often end up in aquatic ecosystems, such as rivers, and a significant portion finally gets its way to the sea. The purpose of this study was to quantify the amount of floating plastic debris in a certain river’s surface water. A framed pocket net sampler was used with dimensions of 1.5 x 0.7 x 2 meters which was installed on the riverbank and operated one day once a month at four locations for 24 hours. The procedures that were carried out included sorting, counting, and weighing the plastic debris, respectively. The total weight and items number of plastic debris was 7.580 kg and 515 items found within the study area respectively. In terms of mass com-position, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) made up 16%, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) 32%, Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) 25%, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) 17%, Polystyrene (PS) 10%, and other resins 0%. Conversely, in terms of items number, it was 10% PET, 25% HDPE, 44% LDPE, 16% EPS, 4% PS, and other resins 1%. Both white and colored plastic pieces, cork sheets, and plastic bags were all examples of the various types of plastics found in a significant number within the study area. The find-ings from this study could offer an initial evaluation of the abundance, items number, and characterization of the polymer-type analysis of floating macroplastics (MaPs) in the Louhajang River based on observations at different locations. Having precise infor-mation on plastic waste in rivers is crucial for enhancing both global and local modelling approaches, thereby increasing the effectiveness of strategies for prevention and collec-tion.
Keywords:
Pollution, Ecosystem, Plastic debris, Macroplastics, Riverine, Louhajang
Citation:
1Md. Noushad Hossain, 2A.S.M Saifullah, 3Md. Samrat Hossain, 4Md. Shafiul Islam, 5Md. Hasanur Habib, 2025, “Analyzing the Volume of Floating Plastic Debris in the Louhajang River’s Surface Water, Tangail, Bangladesh”, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/G8BXMR, Journal of Global Knowledge and Innovation