Research highlights that plastic removal technologies have shown varied efficiency in the amount of waste material they are able to collect.
An international group of scientists has cautioned against reliance on mechanical cleanup devices as a means of addressing the plastic pollution crisis.
The researchers – comprising a number of the world’s foremost experts in plastic pollution, and including Professor Richard Thompson OBE FRS from the University of Plymouth – say they appreciate the clear and pressing need to tackle the millions of tonnes of waste that have already accumulated in the ocean and waterways.
However, they caution that plastic removal technologies used so far have shown varied efficiency in the amount of waste material they are able to collect, many have not been tested at all.
Read more at University of Plymouth
Image: Ghoose barnacles colonising an abandoned fishing net float found within the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (Credit: Melanie Bergmann, Alfred Wegener Institute)