Millions of tons of marine litter can be found around the world. Eric Chassignet and his team have developed a virtual tool to track marine litter, using worldwide plastic waste data. Understanding where litter goes can help countries tackle this problem.

“Knowing where the marine litter released into the ocean by a given country goes and the origin of the litter found on the coastline of a given country are important pieces of information for policymakers,” Chassignet said. “For example, it can help policymakers determine where to focus their efforts for dealing with this problem.”

• Eric Chassignet