Ethan Clarke
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), located halfway between Hawaii and California, is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is one of five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans, covering an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometres. The GPGP is a growing concern, with plastic mass concentration increasing exponentially. The Ocean Cleanup, an international non-profit organisation, has been working to tackle this issue by developing and deploying technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. They aim to remove 90% of plastic by 2040 through river interception and ocean cleanup systems. Despite these efforts, the question remains: will the plastic dump in the Pacific ever be fully recycled?
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) |
| Size | 1.6 million square kilometers (twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France) |
| Weight | Over 100,000,000 kilograms |
| Location | Halfway between Hawaii and California |
| Annual Plastic Entering Ocean | 1.15-2.41 million metric tons |
| Annual Global Plastic Consumption | Over 320 million tons |
| Global Plastic Waste | 400 million metric tons per year |
| Global Daily Plastic Waste Dumped in Oceans | 2,000 truckloads |
| Percentage of Plastic Recycled | 9% |
| Plastic Degradation | Under the effects of sun, waves, and marine life |
| Plastic Density | More than half of the plastic is less dense than water |
| Plastic Buoyancy | Distributed within the top few meters of the ocean |
| Plastic Accumulation | More than 1 million pounds of trash removed by The Ocean Cleanup |
| Cost to Clean | $7.5 billion |
| Time to Clean | 5-10 years |
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What You'll Learn
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The GPGP is not a continuous island of trash but rather a widely dispersed area of microplastics, or "fingernail-sized or smaller" particles, suspended in the upper water column. These microplastics are often microscopic and cannot be seen by the naked eye, giving the water a cloudy appearance. Larger items, such as fishing gear, shoes, and other marine debris, are also intermixed with the microplastics. The patch covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France.
The plastic in the GPGP originates from a variety of sources, including land-based sources such as improper waste disposal and marine sources such as boats and fishing gear. A 2018 study reported that synthetic fishing nets made up nearly half the mass of the patch, while a 2022 study attributed 75% to 86% of the plastic pollution to fishing and agriculture, with most identified emissions originating from Japan, China, South Korea, the US, and Taiwan. A 2014 study found that discarded fishing gear accounted for more than 60% of the mass of plastic marine debris worldwide.
The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organisation, is currently working to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using advanced technologies. Their goal is to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040 through ocean cleanup systems and river interception technologies. The organisation has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally for over ten years, with millions of kilograms of plastic removed to date.
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Ocean Cleanup technologies
The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization that has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally for over ten years. It aims to remove 90% of plastic from the ocean by 2040 using ocean cleanup systems and river interception technologies.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California and contains over 100,000,000 kilograms of plastic. The GPGP covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France.
The Ocean Cleanup's first cleanup system, System 001, was launched in September 2018 to trial the technology in the North Pacific. After four months, the system was brought back to port to further analyze the challenges encountered. The learnings from System 001 laid the foundation for future design iterations, such as System 001/B.
The Ocean Cleanup's current ocean-cleaning technology, System 03, has deterrents, cameras, escape aids, and other features to minimize risk to marine wildlife. The organization also has trained independent observers on board vessels to monitor any interactions with protected species in the area.
The fundamental challenge of cleaning up ocean garbage patches is that plastic pollution is highly diluted, spanning millions of square kilometers. The Ocean Cleanup's solution is to first concentrate the plastic using a long U-shaped barrier that guides the plastic into a retention zone. This allows for the effective collection and removal of vast quantities of plastic.
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Global laws and regulations
One notable international agreement is the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. Under this treaty, effective January 1, 2021, international shipments of most plastic scrap and waste are regulated for the first time. This agreement significantly restricts the trade of plastic waste to reduce improper disposal and environmental leakage. As a result, transboundary shipments of plastic waste now require the prior written consent of the importing country and any transit countries.
At the national level, the United States has a complex legal landscape regarding plastics. While the US has been criticised for its poor recycling rates, there is a patchwork of state-level bills and proposals aiming to address plastic pollution. For instance, California's SB 54 aims for a 75% source reduction, recycling, and reuse goal, proposing to make businesses financially responsible for managing and recovering plastic waste. Colorado has passed similar laws, while Hawaii is still in the draft phase of such legislation. Additionally, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act 2021 is a proposed federal legislation that would phase out various single-use plastic products and encourage their reduction.
In contrast, the UK has implemented a tax structure of £200 per ton of plastic packaging placed on the market that contains less than 30% recycled content. This tax is expected to generate significant revenue, potentially funding research and development to reduce single-use plastics and support businesses in adopting closed-loop recycling systems. Other European countries like Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Estonia, and Malta are also introducing or considering tax laws on single-use plastics.
To address the challenges of plastic waste, various types of laws and regulations have been proposed globally. These include production and manufacturing laws targeting virgin plastics, reduction laws aimed at curbing single-use plastics, transparency and traceability laws for data visibility, and waste management laws covering disposal, recycling, and incineration. The Global Plastic Laws Database serves as a valuable resource for tracking and comparing policies worldwide, aiding policymakers, businesses, researchers, and advocates in their efforts to combat plastic pollution.
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Plastic waste imports
The plastic waste that countries choose to export is often more hazardous and of lower value. As countries struggle to manage it, they have also started to restrict imports. In 2017, China announced a ban on the trade, after which exporters in wealthy countries targeted other developing nations, particularly in Southeast Asia. Malaysia became the world's biggest importer of plastic waste, but it too faced environmental pressures and announced a complete ban on plastic waste imports within three years. Thailand and Vietnam have also experienced similar issues.
In 2019, delegates from 187 countries approved the first-ever global rules on cross-border shipments of plastic waste. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal came into effect on January 1, 2021, and requires countries to obtain prior written consent from the importing country and any transit countries before shipping plastic waste. This has had a significant impact on exports and imports of US plastic recyclables as many US trading partners have implemented the Basel plastic scrap and waste amendments.
The European Union will ban the export of plastic waste to developing countries by 2026, and has proposed requiring countries receiving European recyclables to demonstrate through independent audits that they can manage them sustainably. This has led to an increase in plastic waste exports from the EU to Southeast Asia as European companies rush to offload their waste. Indonesia, which is the world's second-biggest producer of plastic waste, has tightened its regulations and will only allow shipments of fully recyclable products. However, it has faced challenges due to a lack of formal trash-sorting systems and domestic supplies.
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Impact on marine wildlife
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California and covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometres. The GPGP is not only a blight on the ocean but also has a detrimental impact on marine wildlife and ecosystems.
Marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions, are vulnerable to plastic entanglement and ingestion. Large items of plastic can entangle marine mammals, leading to injury, starvation, and increased vulnerability to predators. For example, packing bands have entangled endangered Steller sea lions, resulting in injury and mortality. Similarly, ghost fishing gear, such as discarded fishing nets, ropes, and pots, can trap various marine life, from large whales to small crabs. The ingestion of plastic by marine mammals is also a significant issue. Dead whales have been found with bellies full of plastic, and research indicates that half of the sea turtles worldwide have ingested plastic.
Seabirds are another group that is severely affected by plastic pollution. They often mistake small plastic fragments floating on the water's surface for food, leading to ingestion. This can cause internal injuries, suffocation, and starvation, as plastic reduces the storage volume in their stomachs. Studies have shown that plastic ingestion is prevalent among seabirds, with hundreds of thousands of individuals ingesting plastic each year.
In addition to mammals and seabirds, plastic pollution also impacts fish. Fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic annually, leading to intestinal injuries and death. Plastic ingestion transfers toxic chemicals up the food chain to larger fish, marine mammals, and eventually human seafood eaters. A study found that a quarter of fish at markets in California contained plastic in their guts, mainly in the form of plastic microfibers.
The presence of microplastics in the marine environment poses a significant threat to a wide range of marine organisms. Microplastics, being invisible to the naked eye, are easily consumed by wildlife. They have the ability to adsorb toxins, which then accumulate in the fatty tissues of the organisms that ingest them. The long-term impacts of microplastics are still being studied, but their presence in the marine food chain is a cause for concern, especially for apex predators such as great white sharks and orcas.
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Frequently asked questions
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California and covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers.
The GPGP is estimated to contain over 100,000,000 kilograms of plastic. It is rapidly accumulating plastic, with an estimated 1.15 to 2.41 million metric tons of plastic entering the ocean each year.
The Ocean Cleanup, an international non-profit, is developing and deploying technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. They aim to remove 90% of ocean plastic by 2040 through river interception and periodic removal of accumulated ocean plastic. Over the past three years, The Ocean Cleanup has removed more than one million pounds of trash from the GPGP.
You can help by donating to organizations like The Ocean Cleanup, which is seeking dedicated and inventive minds to join its international team. You can also reduce your plastic consumption and properly dispose of or recycle your plastic waste.
