700 million plastic bottles: we worked out how much microplastic is in Queensland’s Moreton Bay

Summary

Researchers estimated the microplastic load in Brisbane's Moreton Bay and found quantities equivalent to roughly 700 million plastic bottles, providing one of the first city-scale quantifications of how urban areas contribute to coastal microplastic accumulation. Putting a concrete number on urban microplastic output makes the scale of pollution tangible for policymakers and strengthens the case for municipal plastic reduction and stormwater management interventions.