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Did you know?

Arctic plastic pollution is as dense as in other parts of the world.

Taking a Deeper Dive

How the Arctic Ocean Becomes Polluted With Plastic

"Although the Arctic is sparsely populated, it shows a similar level of plastic pollution as other densely populated regions around the globe. The pollution stems from both local and distant sources. Ocean currents from the Atlantic and the North Sea, and from the North Pacific over the Bering Strait, especially contribute to this. Tiny microplastic particles are also carried northward by the wind. Then there are the rivers: though the Arctic Ocean makes up only one percent of the total volume of the world's oceans, it receives more than 10 percent of the global water discharge from rivers, which carry plastic into the ocean, for example, from Siberia. When seawater off the coast of Siberia freezes in the autumn, suspended microplastic becomes trapped in the ice. The Transpolar Drift transports the ice floes to Fram Strait between Greenland and Svalbard, where it melts in the summer, releasing its plastic cargo." From The Alfred Wegener Institute, in an April 6, 2022, article in Phys.org. In addition, the Arctic Council has made Arctic plastic pollution and marine litter a priority in its work. Image credit: Screenshot from The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) Working Group video, Marine Litter in the Arctic.

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Bits and Pieces

• Hong Kong zero-Covid policies create mountains of plastic waste
• World’s third-largest shipping line will no longer accept deliveries of scrap plastic
• U.S. plastics recycling rate slumps below 6 percent
• Plastic sitting in U.S. landfills is worth billion of dollars

Mapping Plastic-Fouled Coastlines

See more beaches fouled by plastic on our ocean plastic trash map.

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This Month’s Coastal Hotspot: Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon

This photo provides a view of the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, covered with garbage and waste that washed and piled along the shore after stormy weather. We first learned about Zouk Mosbeh in a January 23, 2018, story in Haaretz. According to a June 3, 2019, story in Stacker, “the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh has had huge deposits of trash land on their shores. While storm surges have been named as the reason behind the influx, as well as the failure of an old oceanic retaining wall that surrounded a landfill, residents have complained for years that the government in Lebanon is not working hard enough to fix what is an ongoing problem. Officials have implemented cleanups of the beaches, but haven't created any permanent solutions such as recycling programs or improved waste-treatment facilities.” Image credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP

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New additions to the map include:

• Tarutao National Park, Thailand
• Duong Dong, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
• Isola delle Femmine, Sicily, Italy
• Botafogo Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Solutions

See more solutions on our ocean plastic solutions page. Have a solution we should know about? Submit it here.

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This Month’s Featured Solution: Trash Bagger

New global policies are critically important to solving the ocean plastic crisis. New technologies can help. But sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference. Picking up plastic debris from shorelines will always be a chore. And we are a long way from the time when volunteers will no longer be needed to pick up plastic. Trash Bagger is a tool that makes the job for beach cleanups a little easier. This simple invention holds the mouth of the bag open, making it easier to put the plastic in the bag. It also has a handle making carrying the trash-filled bag easier. The only downside: it's made of plastic. However, it can be ordered with a reusable net bag to avoid using plastic trash bags. We used Trash Baggers on a river cleanup last weekend, and they work great!
Image credit: Trash Baggers

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Recent additions to our plastic solutions page include:

• Breaking the Plastic Wave: Top Findings for Preventing Plastic Pollution
• Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste
• Trash Trappers 2
• Republic Services’ Polymer Center

Meet the Experts and Leaders

OpenOceans Global is identifying ocean plastic experts from around the world. Here are two experts leading efforts to reduce plastic pollution that you should know about.

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Antonio A. Oposa, Jr., Environmental Attorney

Antonio A. Oposa Jr. is internationally known for the cases he has fought to protect the Philippines’ natural heritage. The Philippines is one of the largest contributors of plastic to the ocean. In December 2008, after a 10-year legal battle, he won a case to clean up Manila Bay, resulting in the Philippines Supreme Court ordering all defendant agencies to implement a time-bound action plan to clean up the bay and report its progress to the Court every 90 days. He also founded SEA Camp on the shores of Bantayan Island, Cebu, in the Central Philippines. As a physical demonstration of the working principles for sustainable living, it has trained thousands of children, out-of-school youths, government officials, fishermen, law enforcement officers, teachers, lawyers, and laymen. Together with volunteer fishermen, scuba divers, local officials, and ordinary citizens, he also has helped local fishing communities put up a network of marine sanctuaries and fish condominiums in the Visayan Sea. He is the legal adviser and international environmental negotiator of the Federated States of Micronesia to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Oposa’s work has been featured on the BBC, in the Harvard Law Bulletin, and on CNN’s EcoSolutions. He has been named the Outstanding Young Man of the Philippines, been listed on the UNEP Global Roll of Honor, received the 2009 Ramon Magsaysay Award, and is the only Asian to receive the International Environmental Law Award from the Center for International Environmental Law. Oposa received his law degree from the University of the Philippines and his Master of Law from Harvard Law School, where he was the commencement speaker. He is an avid cyclist, open-water scuba diver, sailor, swimmer, tennis player, gardener, vocal artist, painter, writer, and storyteller.

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Margaret Spring, Monterey Bay Aquarium

Margaret Spring, the Chief Conservation and Science Officer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, oversees the aquarium’s many conservation and science programs that advance healthy oceans through policy, markets, and research. These span its global initiatives to advance sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, including the Seafood Watch program, its work to advance U.S. and California ocean conservation priorities, as well as its related research, including collaborations with the Aquarium’s research and technology partner, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Part of the aquarium’s leadership team since 2013, Spring brings a wealth of experience to the position. She recently chaired an expert committee that produced a landmark report, “Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste.” Released in December 2021 by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the report explores U.S. responsibility for plastic pollution in the ocean — and how the U.S. can more effectively address the problem. Prior to joining the aquarium in 2013, she held leadership roles at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), first as chief of staff and then as principal deputy undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. Prior to her tenure at NOAA, Spring led The Nature Conservancy's California coastal and marine program. From 1999 to 2007, she served on Capitol Hill as senior counsel, then general counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Spring serves on the board of the California Ocean Science Trust, a nonprofit organization tasked with providing rigorous science to guide decisions about the future of California's coast and ocean. She also serves on the board of the Environmental Law Institute and is a founding board member of the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust. Spring previously served on the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council from March 2014 to March 2020. From 1992 to 1999, Margaret was an environmental attorney at Sidley & Austin in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Duke University Law School and Dartmouth College.

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