5.25 trillion tons of floating plastic

For the first time ever, scientists have come up with a number for the number of pieces of plastic floating around in the world's oceans. Most of this waste is rather small, micro pieces that are less than 5mm in size. Much of it originates from food and drink packaging and clothing waste. And all of the plastic pieces have an impact on the species living in the oceans.

Discarded nylon fishing nets for example might become a trap for sea turtles or fish may be strangled by packing straps. Even the smaller pieces are a threat - when swallowed, they end up in the guts of some marine species and, in some cases, on our plates as well. Some of them are even toxic.

For the study, published in PLOS ONE, researchers conducted 24 expeditions in the five subtropical gyres, large, swirling areas of water situated in different regions of the oceans. Finally, they calculated the numbers and estimated a total of 5.25 trillion tons of plastic floating on the water's surface. The result includes larger and smaller pieces of plastic, all together adding up to 269,000 tons, or the weight of 2,150 adult blue whales.