The five ocean gyres
Ocean garbage patches are vast and dispersed
Ocean currents concentrate plastic in five areas in the world: the subtropical gyres, also known as the world’s “ocean garbage patches”. Once in these patches, the plastic will not go away by itself. The challenge of cleaning up the gyres is the plastic pollution spreads across millions of square kilometers and travels in all directions. Covering this area using vessels and nets would take thousands of years and cost billions of dollars to complete. How can we use these ocean currents to our advantage?
Our models indicate that a full-scale system roll-out could clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 5 years.
Research shows the majority of plastic by mass is currently in the larger debris. By removing the plastic while most of it is still large, we prevent it from breaking down into dangerous microplastics.
Combining the cleanup with source reduction on land paves the road towards a plastic free ocean by 2050.
Plastic when it is combined with marine sediments will form a marker horizon for the Anthropocene Epoch. It will co-inside with the Anthropocene Mass Extinction along with radioactive isotopes from nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl and Fukashima events. The human legacy to the Geologic history of the Earth.
I hope the plastic cleanup is successful.