The Plastic Vortex

The Plastic Vortex is an area of the Pacific Ocean which contains millions of tons of floating plastic waste. No-one knows how large it is, but some estimates put it as wide as Texas or nearly 4 times as large as Japan. It is in an area north-east of Hawaii, and approximately five days by boat from Hawaii or from San Francisco

Because of its molecular structure, plastic does not biodegrade and rot away. It is also toxic and is killing vast quantities of marine life.

Project Kaisei has been set up to study how to capture, detoxify and recycle plastic waste into diesel fuel.  They are planning a research mission to the largest area of the Plastic Vortex this summer to try and understand the logistic needed in a clean-up operation.  According to their website they are going to undertake a 70 day expedition to

• Study and document the mass of plastic in the ocean
• Test catch methods for removing the plastic particles
• Understand the needs required to undertake an eventual large scale clean-up of the waste material
• Test technology for conversion into an economically viable by-product: diesel fuel.

They will also be producing a documentary for National Geographic. You can find out more and even make donations on the Project Kaisei website.

The team behind it includes one of the people who taught me to dive, Jo Ruxton.  After she left Hong Kong she was a key member of the BBC’s highly regarded National History Unit diving team for many years. You can find out what she’s up to now from her website.