Following a highly competitive review process, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is pleased to announce 13 projects recommended for funding under our NOAA Marine Debris Removal and Interception Technologies grant awards for Fiscal Year 2024. These projects represent an investment in over $23 million for marine debris removal with funds provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

We are pleased to announce with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Sea Grant seven recommended marine debris removal projects under the 2024 Community Marine Debris Removal Grant Program. These projects represent an investment of $1.2 million for marine debris removal with funds provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Thanks to funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Ocean Conservancy and Urban Ocean partners, The Circular Initiative and Resilient City Network, provided a unique opportunity for representatives from private companies to connect and explore collaborations and meet others in the sustainability industry who are ready to speed up the transition away from single-use plastics. The Urban Ocean program is now energized and ready to keep the momentum going to reduce plastic pollution in cities across the globe! Read more about the projects the Summit attendees are advancing to reduce plastic pollution and address gaps in their waste management systems.

Back to school season is here! There can be a lot of waste associated with back to school shopping in the form of single-use plastic and packaging materials that can ultimately end up in our ocean and Great Lakes. As you prepare your classroom and check off your back to school shopping list, the NOAA Marine Debris Program has resources for both students and educators to prepare for the school year ahead. Our online resources are a zero waste must-have for this back to school season!

The NOAA Marine Debris Program created the Guide to MDMAP for Educators as a resource for educators who are interested in implementing MDMAP surveys with their students. The Guide provides instructions and tips for participating in MDMAP and planning, conducting, and following up on monitoring surveys with student groups. Understanding where, how much, and what kinds of debris are present in the marine environment is important to help combat the problem. This knowledge, along with an understanding of how the amount of marine debris on shorelines is changing over time, is essential to developing new and effective strategies for prevention, education, and outreach. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program is pleased to announce its Fiscal Year 2025 Notices of Funding Opportunity for both Marine Debris Removal and Interception Technologies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. NOAA will award up to $54 million across two competitions to support impactful, large marine debris removal projects, as well as the installation of proven marine debris interception technologies, throughout the coastal United States, Great Lakes, United States territories, and Freely Associated States. 

The NOAA Marine Debris Program and Environmental Protection Agency’s Trash Free Waters Program, on behalf of the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee, are pleased to share the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee Report on Microfiber Pollution. This report, created as a requirement of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (P.L. 116-224), provides an overview of microfiber pollution, including a proposed definition of a microfiber, an assessment of the problem, and recommendations for measuring and reducing microfiber pollution. It also outlines a plan with five goals for Federal agencies to reduce microfiber pollution in coordination with stakeholders. 

Vermilion Sea Institute, and the youthful team of Aventureros, are documenting and supporting local restaurants on a transition away from single-use plastics. The team picks up their to-go orders from 20 food vendors in Bahia de los Angeles, Mexico and work together to devour the data. The Hamburger Safari is a continual, youth-driven effort to reduce barriers to a sustainable and waste-free community and offer creative, novel, and place-based methodologies to do so. Throughout this work, the Aventureros have directly engaged well over 550 people in their marine debris reduction and prevention efforts. Read more about what the team discovered!