Eli5 How is so much trash getting in the ocean?

Question

Eli5 How is so much trash getting in the ocean?

In: 2

Answer 1

Most of it is carried in by badly polluted rivers in Southeast Asia. A smaller percentage is fishing gear and other debris from fishing vessels.

These countries don’t necessarily generate that much plastic waste, but they do a terrible job of managing it and landfilling it so it ends up in the ocean.