Local community beach cleans could be more effective than high-tech, but often unproven, removal technologies at limiting ocean plastic's harm to the environment and humans, according to a new report.
Published to coincide with the latest round of United Nations Plastics Treaty negotiations, in Ottawa, Canada, the Legacy plastics: technologies and interventions to remove existing plastic from aquatic environment summary report looks at how and where plastic removal can be most effective.
The single most important factor identified in the report is preventing plastic waste entering the environment in the first place.
However, it concludes some plastic removal will be beneficial as already high, environmental plastic concentrations are expected to triple by 2060 under business-as-usual scenarios.
It recommends that priority areas for clean-up be identified according to where plastic poses the greatest threats to ecosystems or human wellbeing, not just where concentrations are highest.
Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS, Professor of Marine Biology and Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, is the report's lead author.
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