Scientists on the schooner Tara hoist a manta trawl, a tool used to collect microplastics, in the North Pacific Ocean, last year. (Photo: SAMUEL BOLLENDORFF/TARA OCEAN FOUNDATION)

Volunteers sort trash during a beach cleanup in Nanhuizui, Shanghai, on June 1. (Photo: XING YI/CHINA DAILY)

Microplastic samples collected from the ocean. SAMUEL (Photo: BOLLENDORFF/TARA OCEAN FOUNDATION)

Pan Xiangliang (standing), director of the Environmental Microplastics Pollution Research Center, analyzes samples using infrared spectroscopy in his lab at Zhejiang University of Technology. (Photo: XING YI/CHINA DAILY)