More than 13 million tonnes of plastic enter Australia's waterways every year, and some experts believe by 2050 there will be more plastic pieces in the world's oceans than fish. Meet Seabin, a device designed to collect plastic waste floating in coastal areas before it gets to open water and breaks down into harmful micro-plastics.
The Ocean Cleanup is developing cleanup systems that can clean up the floating plastics caught swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. System 002, a large-scale, experimental system, is now being prepared for launch in July 2021.
For the past several years scientists have been trying to account for the 8 million metric tonnes of plastic that we dump into the ocean each year. The assumption was that a large portion of it was floating out in one of the large garbage patches, where swirling debris accumulates thanks to ocean gyres. But recent measurements of the amount of trash in the patches fell far short of what’s thought to be out there.
Scientists are getting closer to an answer, which could help clean-up efforts and prevent further damage to marine life and ocean ecosystems.
