Interesting link from HOTPE. I thought the project was a boondoggle when I saw it, but the breadth of criticism is surprising. Some critics not only say the plastic collector doesn't work, but that it causes harm:
sublink: avoid harming wildlife.
https://discardstudies.com/2015/06/05/ho...uses-harm/
Several misleading arguments here:
"the Array doesn’t address the root of marine plastic pollution and diverts money and attention away from ceasing, mitigating, and slowing the creation of plastic disposables in the first place. "
They are not "(diverting) money and attention away from ceasing, mitigating, and slowing" anything. No one is prevented from working to push society away from plastics...
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"The leading research, education, and advocacy organizations around marine plastics seek to ban microbeads..."
True, microbeads are a much bigger problem. But large piece of plastic are somewhat of a problem. And they break into microbeads.
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" It’s like bailing out a sinking boat before you’ve plugged the hole that’s sinking it."
Yea, well not bailing at all isn't a very bright idea either.
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"Moreover, once any collected marine plastics are brought onto land, they are likely to eventually end up back in the ocean. Moving plastics from the water to landfills that will eventually erode or be covered in water is an act of deferring pollution."
False scenario. OK, some landfills in the next 5000 years will be breached by sea level rise. But many landfills are further inland. Most landfills do not erode; when they are filled to capacity they plant trees on top of them. Often they end up as parks (with hills). The plastic is sequestered.
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I won't discuss "By-catch and By-kill". TL-DR for now. Fascinating topic here.
