Funded by the PML internal research program and the European Space Agency the innovative study – titled “Detection and Classification of Floating Plastic Litter Using a Vessel-Mounted Video Camera and Deep Learning” – was carried out as part of an undergraduate placement project, with the results now published in the journal Remote Sensing The model […]
Along the coast of Wales, scores of old fishing and leisure boats lie abandoned and rotting. In the coming years, experts fear a wave of abandonments as boat owners baulk at high disposal costs that can run to £3,000 for larger vessels. This coastal dumping ground has the potential to devastate marine life as decaying […]
Since 1957, the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) has been towed over 6.5 million nautical miles in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas. The operators have also kept records track of entanglements that disrupted their work: what snared the equipment, where it happened and when. This has proved a valuable source of data on plastic waste, […]
The Surfers Against Sewage Message In A Bottle campaign is calling for a Deposit Return System for plastic and glass bottles and metal cans. In the UK we use a shocking 38.5 million plastic bottles and 59 million cans every day. These types of containers make up 40% of all litter (by volume). Deposit Return […]
Bob Earll It took years to drag the Government into implementing a plastic bag tax which they now acknowledge is working. The 2016 MCS Beachwatch data also confirms this with an almost 50% decline in plastic bags in the recent Beachwatch survey. Targeting particular items is a powerful tool and begs the question of what […]
Five articles veering recent developments in marine litter and the solutions The Government respond to the Environmental Audit Committee to the micro-plastics report An interesting insight into Defra’s thinking on micro-plastics and their commitment to act. They also flag a report they are soon to publish on the evidence Chief Medical Officer to investigate impact of […]
We are now aware of the problem of plastics in the environment and the global scale of marine pollution by plastics. There is a clear need to move beyond just measuring this litter whether it be on the beaches or at sea and there are now a growing range of actions developing to both prevent […]
Three articles highlighting the growing range of solutions being applied to issues surrounding marine litter and pollution from plastics. Twin tracks, more effective prevention of the pollution in the first place and the variations on the boom-hoover idea. The ecological impact assessment of the sea-based booms and hoovers would be interesting to see. 1. Results […]