Ocean trash data
The facts in our games come from this small dataset: 31 common trash items, how long each one takes to break down in the sea, what it is made of and how it harms sea life. Every figure is copied from a public source, with a quote and the source's own limits.
Fields: id, name, material, decompose_min, decompose_max, decompose_unit, harm, persistence, toxicity, wildlife, why, source, source_url, quote.
Read the guide for players: one page per item, in 55 languages →
All items, longest first
How the data is made
- Most sources are government, research and education bodies (US EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, NOAA, the US National Park Service, the European Commission, the UK government, aquariums and peer-reviewed papers); one is a news report quoting the UK Environment Secretary. Each one is saved with the date we checked it and, where possible, an archived copy and a file hash.
- We copy the figure, never estimate it. When a source gives a range, the games show the lowest figure with a “>” sign, so no item looks safer than it is. When a source gives only words (“years or centuries”), the games show words too.
- When no source gives a figure for an item, we say which close item we used instead (a foamed plastic cup for a foam food box, a party cup for a plastic plate), or the cautious floor we chose (more than 500 years for bottle caps).
- The harm score is our own simple scale for comparing items in the games, not an official index: lasts (0–4, from the time: under 6 months 0, under 2 years 1, under 20 years 2, under 100 years 3, more 4), toxic (0–3) and wildlife (0–3), at most 10.
- Breakdown times are estimates. They depend on sunlight, temperature, oxygen and microbes, and plastics break into microplastics rather than disappear.
Sources
- Marine Debris Timeline of Biodegradation – Florida Department of Environmental Protection (Northwest District), information sourced from the US Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Program. checked 2026-10-03 · archived copy
Approximate times printed on an educational poster. Real breakdown depends on sunlight, temperature, oxygen and microbes; plastics fragment into microplastics rather than disappear. - Do I Recycle or Upcycle? – U.S. National Park Service, First State National Historical Park (Junior Ranger Online). checked 2026-10-04 · archived copy
Educational estimates for litter on land, written for children. - Plastic – NOAA Marine Debris Program. checked 2026-10-04 · archived copy
Gives no number: plastics 'may never fully go away'. Lists bottle caps among the top ten items of the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup. - Environmental Stewardship (Trash Timeline resource sheet) – Every Kid Outdoors, U.S. federal interagency program (lesson made with Scholastic). checked 2026-10-04 · archived copy
Classroom estimates without a cited study; used only for items the EPA chart does not list. - Toxicity of cigarette butts, and their chemical components, to marine and freshwater fish (Slaughter E, Gersberg RM, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Stransky C, Novotny TE) – Tobacco Control (BMJ), 2011;20(Suppl 1):i25-i29, doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040170, via PubMed Central (NIH). checked 2026-10-04
Lab test: leachate from butts soaked 24 h; LC50 over 96 h was about one smoked butt per litre for topsmelt and fathead minnow. The in-game leak rate is a gameplay scale, not this dose. - Marine Debris: Plastics – NOAA National Ocean Service, Coastal Tutorial. checked 2026-10-15
Gives no figure for caps: some plastics 'may never fully go away'. The game shows the project's floor of more than 500 years (user rule, 2026-10-15). - Marine Debris Prevention: decomposition key – Aquarium of the Bay (San Francisco). checked 2026-10-15
Educational estimates 'in the marine environment'. - Plastic Bag Free Day – European Commission, Speech Repository. checked 2026-10-15
'they take from 100 to 500 years to disintegrate'; not specific to sea water. - England to ban single-use plastic cutlery, plates and trays – Mother Jones (republishing The Guardian), quoting the UK Environment Secretary. checked 2026-10-15
A government statement, not a study: 'A plastic fork can take 200 years to decompose'. - Decomposition Rates card – Canadian Geographic Education (figures credited to NOAA, US EPA and Woods Hole Sea Grant). checked 2026-10-15
Time 'to break down in the ocean'. Party cup figure, used for plates (no plate-specific figure found). - Masques jetables : dans la poubelle uniquement ! – Ville d'Osny (French municipal government). checked 2026-10-25
Town-hall guidance in French, not a study, and not sea-specific: 'Leur durée de décomposition est d’environ 450 ans' (about 450 years). - Gove takes action to ban plastic straws, stirrers, and cotton buds – UK Government, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (GOV.UK). checked 2026-10-25
A government statement with no number: 'take hundreds of years to break down'; the game reads 'hundreds' as at least 200 years (user, 2026-10-25). - The Scary Truth About Party Balloons – NOAA Marine Debris Program blog (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). checked 2026-10-25
Words only, no figure: balloons 'can persist in environments such as the deep sea for years or centuries'. The game shows 'many years'.
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