Nearly 100,000 pieces of plastic removed from the Toronto Harbour. Here's what else was found
The team behind Toronto’s Trash Trapping Program Network says it removed close to 100,000 small pieces of plastic from the city’s harbour last year.
PortsToronto, in partnership with the University of Toronto’s so called “Trash Team,” said they caught 92,891 pieces of pollution between May and September through the use of 10 Seabins -- which are positioned near the water’s surface and suck trash into a catch bag with a pump.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
“Seven U of T Trash Team research assistants worked daily throughout the summer to empty PortsToronto’s Seabins and quantify and characterize what we diverted from Lake Ontario,” Dr. Chelsea Rochman, Head of Operations at the U of T Trash Team, said in a news release issued Wednesday.
In addition to the Seabins, the program also removed thousands of pieces of trash using a device called a LittaTrap, which are placed in storm drains throughout the Queens Quay area, as well as skimming the surface water in the harbor to divert a total of 96,208 pieces of waste between all three methods.
By weight, the program removed 118.15 kilograms of anthropogenic (originating from human activity) debris and microplastics, which PortsToronto said can harm wildlife and contaminate drinking water.
A Seabin is seen in this undated image.
The top 10 large items of debris caught in 2022 include:
- Plastic film
- Plastic fragments
- Cigarette butts
- Foam
- Food wrappers
- Plastic bottle caps
- Paper
- Plastic cigar tips
- Plastic bags
- Plastic bottles
Also found, and for the first time in the four years of the program, were dozens of “fatbergs,” which PortsToronto describes as “rock-like masses” formed by the combination of fat, grease, and wastewater materials including wet wipes and diapers.
“In 2022, PortsToronto Seabins collected more than 100 fatbergs, a powerful reminder to residents of the city to consider carefully what is washed down the drain,” the group said.
PortsToronto President and CEO RJ Steenstra said he was “encouraged” by the progress made by the program so far amid a rise in plastic pollution that he believes “seriously threatens the sustainability and biodiversity” of the city’s lakes and waterways.
“[We] look forward to continuing to learn from waste collected by trash-capturing devices like Seabins here at home and worldwide as part of the International Trash Trap Network in an effort to educate, change behaviour and ultimately preserve our waterways for future generations,” Steenstra said.
To read the full 2022 report, click here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.