More than 170tn plastic particles afloat in oceans, say scientists

theguardian.com:

An unprecedented rise in plastic pollution has been uncovered by scientists, who have calculated that more than 170tn plastic particles are afloat in the oceans.

They have called for a reduction in the production of plastics, warning that “cleanup is futile” if they continue to be pumped into the environment at the current rate.

The research, by the 5 Gyres Institute and published in the journal Plos One, evaluates trends of ocean plastic from 1979 to 2019. The authors noted a rapid increase of marine plastic pollution and blamed the plastics industry for failing to recycle or design for recyclability.

Dr Marcus Eriksen, the co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, said: “The exponential increase in microplastics across the world’s oceans is a stark warning that we must act now at a global scale, stop focusing on cleanup and recycling, and usher in an age of corporate responsibility for the entire life of the things they make.

“Cleanup is futile if we continue to produce plastic at the current rate, and we have heard about recycling for too long while the plastic industry simultaneously rejects any commitments to buy recycled material or design for recyclability. It’s time to address the plastic problem at the source.”

The researchers looked at 11,777 samples of floating ocean plastics to create a global time series that estimated the average counts and mass of microplastics in the ocean surface layer, lining up the data with international policy measures aimed at reducing plastic pollution to evaluate their effectiveness.

It found that from 2005, there had been a rapid increase in the mass and abundance of ocean plastic. This could reflect exponential increases in plastic production, fragmentation of existing plastic pollution or