Erik van Sebille at NPO Radio 1: where has all the plastic gone?

Utrecht Young Academy member Prof. Dr. Erik van Sebille joined the NPO Radio 1 programme Spraakmakers on 5 January. Together with science journalist Jim Jansen and physicist Rasa Muller, they discussed their scientific highlight of 2021 and their expectations for 2022. 

Erik van Sebille considers the IPCC report the most important scientific news of the past year. This report, a summary of eight years of research into climate change, emphasized once more the need to combat global warming together. Erik investigates how ocean currents move plastic. He tries to map the whereabouts of all the plastic in the ocean. Plastic in the ocean fragmentises, breaks into smaller pieces, and forms a ‘plastic soup’. A very small part of all the plastic in the ocean ends up in this soup, but the remaining 99 percent is ‘missing’. This missing plastic could have ended up in the deep-sea, or it could have stranded ashore. 

How do you map these patterns? In his research, Erik uses computer simulations to predict how ocean currents move plastic. He expects to make great progress in his research this year. If it becomes clear where the plastic in the ocean is, then it can subsequently be mapped where this plastic influences marine life. This also makes it possible to better identify ‘who is to blame’, or where the plastic in the ocean comes from.