The Ocean Cleanup Might Be Cleaning Up More Than Just Plastics

Filipinos Tackle Plastic Pollution At Manila's Bay — MANILA, PHILIPPINES - APRIL 18: Plastic wastes fill a beach on April 18, 2018 in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has been ranked third on the list of the world's top-five plastic polluter into the ocean, after China and Indonesia, while reports show that almost half of the global plastic garbage come from developing countries, including Vietnam and Thailand. Sunday marks the 48th iteration of Earth Day, an annual event marked across the world to show support for environmental protection, as organizations aim to dedicate this year's theme towards ending plastic pollution and change people's attitudes and behavior about plastic consumption and the impact it has on the environment. Over a million people have reportedly signed petitions around the world, demanding for corporations to reduce the production of single-use plastics which affects rapidly developing countries as most disposable packaging like food-wrapping, sachets, and shopping bags land up on the coastlines after being discarded. Most of these countries lack the infrastructure to effectively manage their waste and those who live on lower incomes usually rely on cheap products which are sold in single-use sachets such as instant coffee, shampoo, and food seasoning. According to studies, there could be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050 while actual plastic bits might be in our seafood as fishes consume bits of plastic which are coated in bacteria and algae, mimicking their natural food sources, and eventually lands on our dinner table.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

October 24, 2019

Updated August 07, 2023

WGBH's science correspondent Heather Goldstone joined Boston Public Radio on Thursday to talk about criticism that The Ocean Cleanup system designed to collect plastic is facing.

"Essentially these big connected buoys are floating out on top of the ocean with a curtain that hangs down from it and a parachute above," Goldstone said. "The idea is that wind and waves will blow floating pieces of plastic into this net."

However, the cleanup system faces criticism by some people in the science community, Goldstone said.

"This purported ability to clean up plastics in the ocean once it's actually in the ocean — there's a lot of skepticism from the science community," she said. "One of the big criticisms of it is that there are also a lot of animals and plankton that float at the surface of the ocean, and that if you're picking up all the plastic, you're also picking up all the sea life."