Results of 2020 Research on Floating Debris in the Toronto Harbour

With its second season now complete, the Seabin Program – managed by program partners PortsToronto and the University of Toronto Trash Team – has released 2020 results that confirm the important function the Seabins play both in capturing plastics and microplastics, as well as informing research on origination and approaches to elimination.
 

U of T Trash Team researchers report that over the 2020 season, between July and October, PortsToronto’s Seabins diverted an average of 85,000 small pieces of anthropogenic debris from Lake Ontario. Other than tiny trash, including microplastics (smaller than 5-millimetres), which are by far the most common items collected by the Seabins, other commonly found macroplastics include clear plastic packaging, hard plastic fragments from takeout containers or plastic packaging, and cigarette butts. 
 
During the course of this research season, the U of T Trash Team also discovered that vegetation collected by the Seabins has an important role to play in accumulating microplastics. While the Seabins are effective in capturing floating litter and debris as small as 2-millimetres, plant material collected in the bins acted as a magnet to capture tiny microplastics, such as pre-production plastic pellets, that might otherwise pass through the Seabin’s capture bag. On average this season, PortsToronto’s Seabins diverted more than 11,000 plastic pellets from Toronto’s harbour.
 
To view detailed data and results from the 2020 research season, click here.
 
To read more about the PortsToronto Seabin Program, visit portstoronto.com.
 
Interested in how you can get involved? Visit the University of Toronto Trash Team website to learn more about their solutions-based research and waste literacy initiatives, including the upcoming Home Waste Audit.