Can Microbes Degrade Continent-Sized Floating Plastic Islands?

Currents in many of the world's oceans, form vortexes (called gyres) that result in the accumulation of floating debris in a specific location.  One such gyre, in the north Pacific, has captured and deposited a mass of plastic covering an area that is said to be twice the area of the entire country of France!  This enormous mass of garbage goes by many names, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Pacific Trash Vortex. 

Image from: Kid Friendly Organic Life

Researchers at the University of Sheffield, UK are embarking on a major research project to determine factors that can help promote microbial degradation of plastic in ocean environments.  Much like the lab exercise that we started at the beginning of the semester at NAIT, they are examining physical and chemical factors that affect the rate at which plastic is degraded.  While we are studying degradation in a soil environment, they are focusing on a marine environment.