Clean Up Effort
The scale of the clean up effort is implausibly large. It covers 10 million square miles, an area the size of Texas.
The composition of the debris in the gyre is exceedingly difficult to capture. Much of the plastic has decomposed into tiny particles, too small to capture with nets. Further, the debris is widely diffused: a one acre area contains 40 pounds of debris. Finally, because the debris is deeply intertwined with marine life it requires painstakingly careful extraction.
Plastic debris swirlling in our oceans is a tragedy of the commons, yet it is incumbent that we do something about it. A clean up effort, utilizing traditional techniques would take 8 years and 100,000 people. As such, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is funded through the US Department of Commerce, has taken the position that the problem is too large and complex to tackle. Instead, NOAA has focused on stemming the flow of additional plastic into the ocean.
New technologies are being developed to improve the rate and efficacy of clean up. Project Kaisei will be the first of many deployments working to clean up the grye. That said, our efforts will require a massive number of federal and corporate resources and millions of dollars and man hours.
