90% of plastic waste in the North Pacific Garbage Patch largely comes from 5 countries

Among the waste that constitute the North Pacific Garbage Patch, a large part appears to come from floating materials resulting from fishing-related activities. Photo: AFP

Whether known as "the seventh continent", "trash island" or the "garbage continent", there are all kinds of unglamorous names for the huge pile of floating trash that covers an area of 3.5 million sq km in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean known as the North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP).

Among the waste that makes up this island of garbage, a large part appears to come from floating materials resulting from fishing-related activities, as revealed by a recent study published in Scientific Reports.