Plastic hotspots in Amsterdam in two seasons

Monitoring and studying plastic pollution in the city throughout a whole year, led to the development of two hotspot maps of plastic pollution; these maps show how plastic pollution hotspots change during the winter (December 2022 – February 2023) and summer (June 2023 – August 2023).

The hotspot maps differentiate between plastic transport (“flux”) and plastic accumulation (“density”) locations, providing valuable insights into the seasonal differences in plastic pollution. Here, plastic transport is quantified as the number of flowing plastic items per hour that cross the measurement location. In density locations, the abundance of plastic is expressed in number of items per 100 square meters of water surface. Highlighting the differences between winter and summer sheds light on seasonal dynamics, the persistency of pollution, and potential environmental impacts when pollution loads are high.

Understanding these variations and patterns is crucial for developing targeted mitigation strategies and sustainable (waste) management practices. Adaptive solutions might be required to deal with the dynamic nature of plastic pollution in the urban water environment of Amsterdam.

Maps are also available here:

Hotspots map in summer and Hotspots map in winter.

For any question, don't hesitate to contact project manager Francesca Alberti at francesca.alberti@ams-institute.org