A partnership for global impact on plastic waste
Partnered since the start of 2023, Beyondly and The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) continue their work as part of Beyondly’s Fund for Change Programme. This year, together we explore the impact of plastic in our ocean through a global research project.
A key barrier to advancing our understanding of ocean plastic is the lack of global data. This citizen science project enables a group of ocean lovers – yacht owners - to collect vital water samples from across the globe, which will then by analysed by NOC’s leading plastics team. This data would take decades to collect through traditional research methods and will help us to answer key research questions including how plastic is travelling through our seas and forming microplastic ‘hotspots’, and the key characteristics of these plastics as they degrade across the ocean.
We are now six months into this pilot project. Over this time NOC’s expert scientists have worked to develop a robust new methodology for this kind of data collection, ensuring that the water samples that are taken are high-quality and useable – with plastic in most of our clothing and equipment, avoiding cross contamination of microplastics in these samples is not an easy job!
With this new methodology and equipment approved, NOC have been able to begin engaging yacht owners who are keen to get involved with science and help NOC to understand more about plastic pollution and the impact it is having in the ocean that they, and we, love.
While NOC were expecting good engagement with this project, they have been blown away by the people who want to help with this data collection on a longer-term basis. We had imagined that this project would mostly work with vessel owners out on day trips or short holidays, but most of the interest we have had is from people who are embarking on long trips across several ocean basins. This is incredibly valuable as it means they will receive consistent data from all across the world, including many areas where a traditional research ship would not be able to travel.
NOC’s team have now trained three groups ready for their trips, including round-the-world sailor and yacht race winner Mike Golding and his family. Engaging families like Mike’s in scientific research will help to grow awareness of the need for ocean science and will provide key data that will be used to inform government and industry legislation and make real change in the UK’s waste systems.
Holly Evans, Head of Strategic Relationships at NOC commented on the project so far,
“Thanks to Beyondly’s generous support this project is already exceeding our expectations. We look forward to updating you on the water samples that we receive from Mike and our other citizen scientists”.
Resources
Microplastics research at NOC (Video)
Inside NOC with Earth Minutes EP1: Microplastics (Video)
The real impact of waste plastics on our oceans with NOC (Podcast)
