Plastic now forms a sixth continent off the Pacific Ocean, that is three times the size of France. One organisation has made it its mission to clean up this mess.
ADVERTISEMENTDubbed the ' Great Pacific Garbage Patch,' this trash island holds a concentration of plastic with a surface area similar to Mongolia or 15 times the size of Portugal.
Putting an end to the growing production of plastic is the goal of the UN, which wants an international treaty to come into force in 2025.
Other initiatives are tackling the issue of floating plastic in our rivers and oceans, with varying degrees of success.
Less expensive, and definitely less hi-tech, manually removing the plastic that washed up on shore is a proven method to prevent more plastic from ending up in a garbage patch in the middle of the ocean.
While activists have decried government inaction on the issue, it is one that, if left unchecked, will impact our survival.
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