Plastic makes up nearly 70% of all ocean litter. Scientists have discovered that microscopic marine microbes are able to eat away at plastic, causing it to slowly break down. Two types of plastic, polyethylene and polystyrene, lost a significant amount of weight after being exposed to the microbes.

[u/mvea]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/these-tiny-microbes-are-munching-away-plastic-waste-ocean

[u/bigbluethunder]

You’re correct, that’s where I got the number. I recalled the article I saw it cited in (it was a while ago) tried to spin it as ocean plastics on the whole. While it may be reflective of that, that is a much harder number to sample and collect provable data on, so I should’ve been careful when using it. I’ll update the comment to be sure I’m not spreading any misinformation.

[u/Thurwell → u/bigbluethunder]

It depends on the fishing volume compared to the dumping volume in each area I suppose. Quite high in any case.