Due to its geographic position, Henderson Island is home to the world's most plastic-polluted beach. The South Pacific Gyre washes ocean plastic onto the island's shores, and no one is around to pick it up.
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The ChallengeDue to its geographic position, Henderson Island is home to the world's most plastic-polluted beach. The South Pacific Gyre washes ocean plastic onto the island's shores, and no one is around to pick it up.
South Pacific currents dump as many as 40 million items of plastic and rubbish on the shores of Henderson Island each year, earning it the name of the most polluted island in the world.
The team estimates 37.7 million pieces of plastic debris litter Henderson Island, exposing the extent to which the Earth's nooks and crannies have become sinks for the 311 million tons of plastic waste created annually by humans.
(By comparison, Manhattan is 22 square miles in size.) Henderson island sits in the path of the South Pacific Gyre, a major oceanic current. Such currents are known to accumulate plastic, reaching densities 2.3 million pieces per square mile.