Estimation of the Amount and the Composition of the Waste on the Coastline of Islands Located in Shinan-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea

This study evaluated the amount of composition of waste present on the coastline of the selected 43 islands in Shinangun, Jeollanam-do. The field investigattion was conducted through eye observation and collecting-and-weighting of waste on the coastline in the islands. The amount of waste on the coastline was estimated to be 0.1 to 70 20L-bags by the eye observation, which showed quite big variation among islands. In addition, more waste on the coastline (4.88 ton/km) was observed in the islands where domestic waste was not properly managed by the government than in the islands where domestic waste was managed (3.59 ton/km). Our results suggest that both the geographic and topographical properties of the island and the management of domestic and coastal waste on the coastline estimated by eye ovservation(Meye) to the amount estimated by collecting-and weighing (Mweigh) (Meye/Mweigh) was an average of 2.12, from a minimum of 0.13 (Bigeum-do, Shinan) to a maximum of 5.14 (Daeya-do, Shinan), indicating that the overestimation of the amount of waste was made by the eye observation. The composition of the waste on the coastline was found to be in the order of plastics (51.2%) > woods (44%) > others (43.9%). The amount of the plastics was highest in the coastal waste and the major amount of the plastics was observed to be originated from fishing or aquaculture activities. Thus, proper collection and disposal of these waste fishery materials would be crucial from coastal waste management in the islands.