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Data

Decomposition rates of marine debris

About this data

Source
U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program (2018) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
September 1, 2018
Date range
2018–2018
Unit
years

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program – Decomposition times of marine debris

Average estimated decomposition time of typical marine debris items.

Retrieved on
September 1, 2018
Retrieved from
https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/documents/marine_debris.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota, FL, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

Average estimated decomposition time of typical marine debris items.

Retrieved on
September 1, 2018
Retrieved from
https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/documents/marine_debris.pdf
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota, FL, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program.

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

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  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Decomposition rates of marine debris”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/decomposition-rates-marine-debris.html [online resource] (archived on May 11, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program (2018) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program (2018) – processed by Our World in Data. “Decomposition rates of marine debris” [dataset]. U.S. National Park Service, Mote Marine Lab, and NOAA Marine Debris Program, “Decomposition times of marine debris” [original data]. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260511-092124/grapher/decomposition-rates-marine-debris.html (archived on May 11, 2026).

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