The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

In the next few blog posts I'm going to be discussing the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch', one of the most popular topics in marine plastics. It refers to a mass of marine plastic and other debris in the North Pacific Ocean, brought together by ocean gyres. The Garbage Patch is often seized upon by the media (see articles in The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Daily Mail) in order to convey the sheer size of the marine plastic problem to the public, however, it is rather misunderstood.

So, before exploring the science and the politics behind the patch, let's cover the basics. 

There is no such thing as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 

Whilst a popular idea, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as most people imagine it simply does not exist. The name in itself leads to a common misconception about the nature of the Garbage Patch: that it is a singular and solid mass of plastic.

Firstly, there is more than one Garbage Patch. There are actually Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches, and another important area called the subtropical convergence zone.   

Multiple Garbage Patches (Source: NOAA)

Secondly, there isn't an island of plastic. This is because most of the plastic debris is very small, and doesn't form a solid mass, but rather floats around in an unpleasant plastic-y soup.

(Check out this poster by NOAA for more info on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch)   

Having got that out the way, the next blogs will look in more detail at the interactions between ocean circulation and plastic debris, and, a very interesting question, 'whose responsibility is it to clear the Garbage Patches?'.