How much debris enters the ocean?
There is truly no accurate answer to this question. A figure that has been cited came from a 1975 study by the National Academy of Sciences that estimated approximately 1.4 billion pounds of trash per year enters the ocean (NAS, 1975). Important items to note about this figure: • This study was published in 1975, 13 years before the implementation of MARPOL Annex V prohibited the dumping of plastics and restricting the dumping of other wastes in the oceans, and thus is quite dated. • This study only took into account debris from vessels. Data were collected from vessels’ Garbage Record Books. NOAA is working with other agencies and groups to investigate the best available information to work towards a more current estimate. While the NAS (1975) study estimated then-legal dumping of waste from ocean vessels, an accurate, current estimate of debris entering the oceans would need to measure debris entering from rivers, storm sewers, beach litter, illegal dumping at sea, and many other ave
