The study estimates the number of plastic components in the oceans at 170 trillion or 170,000 billion. This waste mainly dates from the period after 2005 and accounts for a total weight of 2.3 million tonnes.
If nothing is done, the amount will only increase in the coming years, emphasize the researchers, who base their analysis on samples taken from more than 11,000 measuring stations worldwide.
About a year ago, 175 countries agreed to fight plastic pollution with a binding treaty by the end of 2024. For the researchers, the document must be ambitious in terms of the production and use of plastic, as well as the elimination of waste.
“Recovering plastic from the environment has only a limited effect. That is why the solutions must mainly lie in limiting the amount of plastic waste the scientific article.