Ocean plastics

Although cleaning up the humungous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a daunting concept, removing trash from local waterways is much more feasible … and that's exactly what the Clearbot robot is designed to do.

A new study has highlighted a key link in the chain of how plastic pollution travels, demonstrating how microplastics can be swept across the surface of the seas by winds that carry them upward into the atmosphere, and into remote parts of the ocean.

A new study as shone a light on the role deep-sea trenches can play in the movement of plastic pollution, revealing how they can act as traps, accumulating large amounts of microplastic particles and holding them there.

The Ocean Cleanup is ramping up production of its Interceptor plastic trash removers in partnership with Konecranes, with a thousand of the world's most heavily polluting rivers in its sights.

A new study has shed further light on the way plastic waste moves through the marine environment with the use of tagged plastic bottles. The bottles were dropped into the Ganges river and some ended up thousands of kilometers away.

As part of its mission to tackle plastic pollution in the marine environment, The Ocean Cleanup project plans to sell goods made from the waste it recovers to fund its ongoing operations, and has just unveiled its very first product.

A new study has cast doubt over one method of cleaning up ocean plastics in floating trash-collection barriers, finding that these devices are unlikely to put a dent in the overall problem, even if left to run well into next century.

A new study has revealed the dangers plastic pollution poses to blue mussels, with researchers finding they may ingest three times as much plastic when clumped together in the reef structures commonly seen in nature.

Researchers working to trace the path of plastic waste through the marine environment have discovered the highest concentration of microplastics ever recorded on the seafloor, the result of deep-sea currents that act like conveyor belts for our trash.

Scientists at Cornell University have been working on more environmentally friendly forms of plastic for the fishing industry, and have come up with a new plastic material that can break down much more quickly when exposed to UV light.

A new study by scientists in Italy has shone a light on the way lobsters digest plastic particles, finding that their stomach actually grinds them up into tiny fragments that can pose a risk to smaller creatures in the food chain.

Scientists at Cardiff University have come up with a way of estimating the maximum size of plastic pieces different marine creatures can consume, which could help assess the risks different types of waste pose to species around the globe