PLASTIC OCEAN June 2014 | Page 17

PROJECTS

by M. Mims

Operation Clean Sweep is jointly managed by the Society of the Plastics Industry, the Canadian Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council to prevent the release of resin pellets into the environment. The campaign advocates to help every plastic resin handling operation and achieving zero pellet loss.

Plastic Makers (partner with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) combine to carry out the first federally funded research project to the North Atlantic gyre.

In 2006 the plastic industries of the American Chemistry Council joined the NFWF to observe microscopic debris in plankton samples. The Plankton & Plastic Surveys of U.S. Ocean Waters as well, observed zooplankton. The expedition was exploring how plastic interacts with marine life.3