What is Plastia?

Plastia is a park located in one of the great "islands" of plastic that have formed in the oceans of our planet, which the marine currents form with our trash. The park is in the area with more waste accumulation, the Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and California.

 

How does all this plastic end up there?

There are two main plastic sources. On the one hand, through the sewers, and on the other, from landfills, driven by the wind; the plastic arrives to the rivers and the sea, where the currents accumulate it, forming the island.

 

And what about recycling?

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Most of the plastic that is produced is not easily recyclable and, in some cases, is not even intended to be. There are lots of different materials and types of trash, and our way of recycling just isn't enough. In addition, the economic cost of recycling is higher than that of producing new plastic, and each company has it's priorities.

 

How big is this island?

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The island where Plastia is located is estimated to have an area of ​​700,000 km2 to 15,000,000km2 (the assessment depends on what is considered to be a higher than "normal" level of presence of plastic in water). That is between 0.4 and 8% of the surface of the Pacific ocean. And this is just one of the islands; other plastic accumulations can be found in different parts of the planet's seas.

 

Then why can't we see this islands by satellite?

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The term "islands" refers to an accumulation of plastic waste that mainly consists of fragmented material, which is so small that, despite being accumulated in huge quantities on the surface of the sea, is often difficult to see from the distance.