Plastic pollution in the ocean: What is the current status?
Madeira beaches have been the subject of a Regional Program for Monitoring Marine Litter, which collects and characterizes objects washed ashore in the last three years. Since 2021, the Madeiran program has accounted for 3.6 tons of collected litter, and they estimate that the actual amount double's that. Especially in the deep sea, where the expected situation is more severe, calculating that 70% of the litter that reaches the sea sinks.
The mission of Mare-Madeira affiliated with Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), is to explore monitoring techniques for floating litter using drones, as explained by researcher João Monteiro.
The project also includes cleaning campaigns and awareness-raising actions. And if there are still solutions, as this article suggests, it may involve taxing polluters.