Evaluating the environmental impact of cleaning the North Pacific Garbage Patch
Cleanup of existing plastic pollution is crucial to mitigate its impact on marine ecosystems, but such efforts must ensure benefits outweigh potential environmental damage caused by the cleanup. Here, we present an impact assessment framework and apply it to evaluate whether cleaning the North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP) benefits marine life and carbon cycling, using The Ocean Cleanup as a case study. Our findings indicate that marine life is more vulnerable to plastic pollution than to macroplastic cleanup, with average vulnerability scores (1 = low, 3 = high) of 2.3 for macroplastics, 1.9 for microplastics, and 1.8 for cleanup, suggesting a net positive impact. An 80% cleanup could reduce macroplastic concentrations to within reported safe levels for marine mammals and sea turtles. Estimated cleanup-related carbon emissions [0.4-2.9 million metric tons (Mt) in total] are significantly lower than potential long-term microplastics impacts on ocean carbon sequestration (15-30 Mt C per year). However, uncertainties remain regarding effects on air-sea carbon exchange. Our framework serves as a critical tool for assessing trade-offs between plastic pollution and remediation impacts. It demonstrates the environmental net benefits of the proposed NPGP cleanup and can be adapted to similarly evaluate other remediation plans.
Authors
- Albert A. Koelmans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7176-4356)
- Vilma Havas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6505-4953)
- Karin Kvale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8043-5431)
- Maíra Proietti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5504-5770)
- Denise M. Mitrano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8030-6066)
- Camille Richon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7097-7173)
- Andy M. Booth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4702-2210)
- Thijs Bosker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7727-1402)
- Ziman Zhang
- Laurent Lebreton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7443-2100)
- Peter S. Puskic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1352-8843)
- Gert Everaert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4305-0617)
- Yanxu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7770-3466)
- Matthew S. Savoca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7318-4977)
- Helge Niemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3468-8304)
- Sarah‐Jeanne Royer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1070-8611)
- Samantha L. Garrard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4791-7209)
- Marjolein van Vulpen
- Matthias Egger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1791-1842)
- Qiaotong Pang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1888-2518)
- Arjen Tjallema
- Helga S. Huntley
Institutions
- Tulane University (US)
- GNS Science (NZ)
- Leiden University (NL)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (BR)
- Flanders Marine Institute (BE)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- SINTEF (NO)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Grid-Arendal (NO)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- The Ocean Cleanup (NL)
- California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (US)
- Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL)
- Centre for Marine Socioecology (AU)
- Safety Management Systems Aotearoa (New Zealand) (NZ)
- Pacific University (US)
- Rowan University (US)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-05-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.52
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Norges Forskningsråd
- Sorbonne Université
- Earth Sciences Division
- Division of Ocean Sciences