How much plastic debris has been estimated to float near the ocean surface?

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Ubiquitous plastics — plastic pollution A volunteer collecting plastic nurdles (pellets less than 0.2 inch [0.5 centimeter] in diameter) at Barreiras Beach, Corrubedo, Spain.

A 2014 oceanographic study provided the first estimate of plastic debris floating on or near the surface of the world’s oceans. Researchers estimated that there were at least 5.25 trillion individual plastic particles, with a total weight of approximately 244,000 metric tons (269,000 short tons).1

This floating waste tends to accumulate in five subtropical gyres, which cover 40 percent of the world’s oceans. These areas include the North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North and South Atlantic Subtropical Gyres, and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre.1