Egger Matthias, Booth Andy M, Bosker Thijs, Everaert Gert, Garrard Samantha L, Havas Vilma, Huntley Helga S, Koelmans Albert A, Kvale Karin, Lebreton Laurent, Niemann Helge, Pang Qiaotong, Proietti Maira, Puskic Peter, Richon Camille, Royer Sarah-Jeanne, Savoca Matthew S, Tjallema Arjen, van Vulpen Marjolein, Zhang Yanxu, Zhang Ziman, Mitrano Denise M
The Ocean Cleanup, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Empaqtify, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 27;15(1):16736. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-00619-w.
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.
清理现有的塑料污染对于减轻其对海洋生态系统的影响至关重要，但此类努力必须确保收益大于清理工作可能造成的环境破坏。在此，我们提出一个影响评估框架，并以海洋清理项目为例，将其应用于评估清理北太平洋垃圾带（NPGP）是否对海洋生物和碳循环有益。我们的研究结果表明，海洋生物对塑料污染的脆弱性高于对大型塑料清理的脆弱性，大型塑料的平均脆弱性得分（1 = 低，3 = 高）为2.3，微塑料为1.9，清理为1.8，表明有净积极影响。80%的清理率可将大型塑料浓度降低至报告的对海洋哺乳动物和海龟安全的水平之内。估计与清理相关的碳排放总量为[40万至290万公吨（Mt）]，远低于微塑料对海洋碳固存的潜在长期影响（每年1500万至3000万吨碳）。然而，对海气碳交换的影响仍存在不确定性。我们的框架是评估塑料污染与修复影响之间权衡的关键工具。它展示了提议的北太平洋垃圾带清理项目的环境净效益，并可适用于类似地评估其他修复计划。
