STORAGE WP5: Task 5.1: Disseminate STORAGE at conferences, outreach events, in scientific and popular articles.

This poster was presented by Astrid E. Delorme at the 7^th International Marine Debris Conference 19^th - 23^rd of September 2022 in Busan, South Korea, under Track 2: Research.

Accepted Abstract:

Recent global plastic pollution models predict that two thirds of the plastic mass released from land into the ocean since 1950s is likely to have stranded around the world’s shoreline. Yet, our knowledge about the degradation, burial and transportation fate of beached Marine Plastic Debris (MPD) remains limited and little is known about the exact capacity of beaches to store MPD. In this poster contribution we present the MSCA-HE project STORAGE, which aims to fill in current knowledge gaps in global monitoring of MPD. Our approach is based on repeated field-surveys of surface and buried MPD and studying the physico-chemical transformations induced by MPD weathering on Hawaiian beaches. The beaches of Hawaii accumulate high amounts of MPD given their location and proximity to the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (also known as the North Pacific Garbage Patch, NPGP). Data collected from surveys of surface and buried MPD on beaches will generate 3D maps of MPD and by repeating the surveys over a time period of approximately two years will allow us to assess changes in MPD concentration and distribution over time and across seasons. Moreover, through the dynamic 3D maps of MPD we will evaluate MPD fluctuations with respect to sand column depth, beach morphology, distance from the tide line, seasonality, polymer type, size and density. Following the weathering of plastic debris when stored on beaches will reveal dominating MPD transformations and rates, including fragmentation rates, which will provide key information (e.g. changes in density, buoyancy and fragmentation) to understand the fate (transportation and transformation) of MPD in coastal environments. Data from the repeated field-surveys on Hawaiian beaches and the analyses of weathered-induced transformations of beached MPD will be used in numerical models in order to fill in knowledge gaps in MPD transportation. We envision that STORAGE will encourage evidence-based actions and policies to effectively target plastic pollution which will consequently reduce plastic entering the ocean. For example, targeted beach clean-ups, especially in areas where degradation is fast, could provide a ‘last chance’ to remove temporarily beached MPD before released into the vast ocean as secondary microplastic or being buried in beach sediment. The interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge needed for STORAGE will be facilitated through bringing together key actors in MPD analysis and sampling, plastic pollution modelling and polymer science.