Plastic paradise: The shocking extent of ocean waste
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(Plastic waste is a gigantic problem that we all have to take responsibility for, and one in which engineers have a key role in solving.)
Henderson Island, part of the UK’s Pitcairn Islands territory, lies near the centre of the Southern Pacific Gyre, one of the ocean vortexes where discarded plastic collects. As one of the most remote islands on the planet, and a UNESCO World Heritage site, you might expect Henderson to be an unspoilt paradise. But a study published this week revealed a very different picture. Researchers from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), working alongside the RSPB, found the island’s beaches littered with 671 pieces of plastic per square metre. Extrapolating from that, they estimate that the uninhabited Henderson, more than 5,000 miles from a major population centre, contains about 38 million pieces of plastic.
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(Plastic waste is a gigantic problem that we all have to take responsibility for, and one in which engineers have a key role in solving.)
Henderson Island, part of the UK’s Pitcairn Islands territory, lies near the centre of the Southern Pacific Gyre, one of the ocean vortexes where discarded plastic collects. As one of the most remote islands on the planet, and a UNESCO World Heritage site, you might expect Henderson to be an unspoilt paradise. But a study published this week revealed a very different picture. Researchers from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), working alongside the RSPB, found the island’s beaches littered with 671 pieces of plastic per square metre. Extrapolating from that, they estimate that the uninhabited Henderson, more than 5,000 miles from a major population centre, contains about 38 million pieces of plastic.
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