Global Plastic Waste Accumulation in Ocean Gyres From 2000 - 2019: An Analytical Comparison of Regional Microplastic Concentration

Oceanic plastic pollution has significantly increased over the past decades and has accumulated into ocean gyres creating great garbage patches, including the North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP), South Pacific Garbage Patch (SPGP), North Atlantic Garbage Patch (NAGP), South Atlantic Garbage Patch (SAGP), and Indian Ocean Garbage Patch (IOGP). The largest patches, the North Pacific and North Atlantic, are well studied but little is known about the other 3 patches or the origins of plastic pollution. This study aims to create a comparison of the 5 garbage patches, address how plastics are discharged into the ocean, and the policies surrounding the issue using public online data sets and papers. The Global Marine Microplastics Database from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the ‘Plastic Waste Accumulated in the Ocean’ dataset from My World In Data were used to compare microplastic concentrations, total plastic amounts, and garbage patch sizes. Data analysis showed a majority of plastics emitted into the ocean originated from China, Europe, and the Americas as major economic contributors and trade communities. In 2000, the ocean contained 8.47 million plastic tonnes, with Asia (2.65 million tonnes) and the Americas (2.58 million tonnes) accounting for most plastics emitted. Over the span of 2 decades, countries with increased manufacturing contributed to a sharp increase in oceanic plastic. As of 2019, out of 30.41 million plastic tonnes in the ocean, Asia contributed an estimated 12.94 million tonnes, the Americas contributed 7.56 million tonnes, and Europe contributed 5.05 million tonnes. National organizations and countries have implemented policy change, but it is difficult to abolish single use plastic due to widespread use. Ultimately, more studies on plastic effects on the environment are important to generate a more complete perspective of the problem and engineer solutions.