This blog was written by Hannah De Frond. Hannah works with Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto Trash Team to manage the International Trash Trap Network (ITTN), a global network of local groups using trash traps to increase cleanup efforts, engage communities and inform upstream solutions. 

During coastal cleanup events, no matter where you are in the world, chances are you’ll encounter plastic items like bottles, bottle caps, straws and packaging. However, plastic fragments that are smaller and more difficult to see may be difficult to see within the sand or soil. 

Plastic fragments are small hard pieces of plastic, typically formed as larger plastic items that break up in the environment. As plastics are exposed to sunlight, waves and winds, they become brittle, crack and break into pieces. With each item of plastic that enters the environment, there is the potential for it to break into hundreds or even thousands of fragments. Due to its small, lightweight nature, each fragment moves differently in the environment and can have a totally different fate. Some fragments get washed into the ocean and float on the surface or sink to the ocean floor, some become buried in a sandy beach, and some are blown further afield with strong winds.

Plastic fragments are found in many environments, including lakes, rivers, terrestrial sediments and coastal marine environments. Plastic fragments are removed each year in the “tiny trash” collected during Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup®. They are among the top 10 items reported by groups in the International Trash Trap Network, an initiative co-led by Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto Trash Team, using technologies to clean up our waterways. 

One study in Brazil found 2,661 fragments in a 100-meter section of beach. Plastic fragments are also frequently reported in studies of plastic ingestion by wildlife such as fish, seabirds and turtles. Ingested plastic fragments can cause tissue damage and inflammation and can concentrate harmful chemical pollutants which have the potential to leach out inside the gut, negatively impacting animal health. 

Just like other large plastic items, plastic fragments also undergo environmental weathering which causes them to break apart into even smaller pieces—microplastics (<5mm) and eventually into nanoplastics (<100nm). These micro- and nano-sized fragments are frequently found in the environment and, due to their size, are easily ingested by wildlife. One analysis of scientific research to date revealed that fragments are ingested by 19% of fish globally. 

To reduce plastic fragment pollution, we need to tackle the problem at the source by reducing the production and use of larger plastic items, like single-use plastics, from which fragments are generated. This includes commonly used polluting items like plastic bottles, straws, food containers, cups and plates. By reducing our plastic waste, reusing as much as possible and recycling when possible, we can, collectively, have a huge impact.

Both Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto are deeply committed to ridding our ocean and planet of insidious and harmful plastic pollution through efforts like the International Trash Trap Network and the International Coastal Cleanup. Please join us in ensuring that our ocean and waterways are not overrun by microplastics or any form of plastic pollution.