Nearly 38 million bits of plastic litter on very remote island

The beaches of one of the world’s most remote islands have been found to be polluted with the highest density of plastic debris reported anywhere on the planet, in a study published in the US scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Despite being uninhabited and located more than 5,000 kilometres from the nearest major population centre, Henderson Island is littered with an estimated 37.7 million pieces of plastic. The island is so remote that it’s only visited every five to 10 years for research purposes, but its location near the centre of the South Pacific Gyre ocean current makes it a focal point for debris (News Item University of Tasmania, 16 May 2017).
Click here for the news item.
Click here for the published article (1.16 MB).
Click here for more information about the NVC Project PUMA: the end of packaging as an environmental issue. You are welcome to join us for the next project meeting on 4 April 2018.

This news item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411.