Partnership between PortsToronto, University of Toronto Trash Team, and Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy member organizations mobilizes trash trapping technology to combat and study floating debris and plastic pollution found in the Toronto Harbour.
TORONTO, March 10, 2025 /CNW/ - Between May and October 2024, a network of trash traps in the Toronto Harbour diverted more than 600-kg of anthropogenic (man-made) debris from the waters of Lake Ontario, including items such as plastic pellets, pieces of foam from food containers and construction activities, plastic bottle caps, cigarette butts, fatbergs1, and more than 100,000 small pieces of plastic.
The Trash Trapping Program, led by PortsToronto and the University of Toronto Trash Team (U of T Trash Team) since 2019, and a cornerstone of the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy, uses various methods and technologies such as WasteSharks, Seabins, LittaTraps, and manual skimming to capture and remove plastic pollution from the Lake Ontario. Materials collected are counted and characterized by U of T Trash Team researchers, informing solutions-based research and helping to combat plastic pollution in waterways.
Key Results and Findings in 2024
- Waste Diversion by Weight
- A total of 642 kg of waste was diverted from the environment.
- Waste Diversion by Numbers:
- Top 10 large items collected: Foam, cigarette butts, tobacco products (i.e. cigar tips), plastic bottle caps, large plastic fragments, food wrappers, large plastic film, straws and stirrers, plastic bags, plastic beverage bottles.
- Top small items collected: plastic fragments, foam, pellets, film, other.
- Tiny debris (including microplastics or items smaller than 5mm) remain the most common type of collected waste. Plastic breaks down into microplastics over time in the water, making it difficult to trace origins.
- Large items collected: 53,886
- Small items collected: 174,251
- Seabins:
- Five Seabins operated on the Toronto Waterfront and two at the Outer Harbour Marina. These Seabins trap floating debris in a catch bag that is emptied daily.
- WasteShark Aquadrones:
- These drones can remove up to 180 liters of marine litter per trip. In 2024, they collected 163 large pieces of debris (5.9 kg total) during 12 trips.
- LittaTraps:
- Ten LittaTraps were placed in storm drains near Queens Quay to prevent debris from reaching the harbour. They mainly captured cigarette butts, paper, and litter that could eventually break down into microplastics.
- Skimming for Litter:
- Manual skimming (scooping floatable litter) was conducted along the Toronto Inner Harbour to remove both large debris and invasive plants that accumulate microplastics.
2025 Trash Trapping Program Outlook
- The Trash Trapping Program operates between May and October each year. In May 2025, PortsToronto will work to install existing trash traps at locations on the Toronto Waterfront and at the Outer Harbour Marina, and the U of T Trash Team will be onboarding and training the 2025 research team.
- In addition to our existing fleet of seven Seabins and two WasteSharks (the Toronto Sharks, Ebb and Flow), PortsToronto is in the process of procuring three new fixed trash trapping devices to be installed along the Toronto waterfront in spring 2025.
These efforts represent significant steps in improving water cleanliness and reducing marine litter along Toronto's waterfront. To learn more about the data collected in 2024, visit the U of T Trash Team website. To keep up to date with the Trash Trapping Program in 2025 and beyond, follow us on social media at @PortsToronto, @UofTTrashTeam and @Sharks_TO.
Quotes
"It is exciting to see the continued success of the Trash Trapping Program and our enduring partnership with the U of T Trash Team, reflected in these annual results and data. Thanks to the dedication, hard work, and innovative spirit of our teams, PortsToronto and our partners have achieved remarkable progress since 2019 in keeping our waterways clean and contributing to important research. In 2025, we're furthering this mission with the addition of new devices to our fleet, joining our Seabins and WasteShark aquadrones in tackling floating debris and plastic pollution in the harbour. Together, we're making a lasting impact on the future of the Toronto Harbour and Lake Ontario."
- RJ Steenstra, President and CEO, PortsToronto
"It has been wonderful to work on this project for five solid years. As we've worked, our partnerships have grown, and so has our impact. Due to an increased capacity through more traps and more human power, we remove more and more plastic pollution from our waterfront every year. Moreover, the data we collect is used to inform the preventative solutions we work on together – such as reducing litter from cigarette butts, rethinking garbage bins to reduce overflow, and reducing single-use foodware and produce bags in local businesses. Holistically, the work we do trapping trash and preventing plastic pollution reduces the plastic pollution in Toronto's water – protecting wildlife and humans."
- Dr. Chelsea Rochman, Head of Operations at the U of T Trash Team
About PortsToronto
For more than 100 years PortsToronto has worked with its partners at the federal, provincial and municipal levels to enhance the economic growth of the City of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. PortsToronto owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which welcomes more than two million passengers each year; the Outer Harbour Marina, one of Canada's largest freshwater marinas; and the marine Port of Toronto that includes businesses in a variety of sectors including marine shipping, cargo services, media production and passenger cruises. PortsToronto is committed to fostering strong, healthy and sustainable communities and has invested more than $28 million since 2009 in charitable initiatives and environmental programs that benefit communities along Toronto's waterfront and beyond. PortsToronto operates in accordance with the Canada Marine Act and is guided by a board with representation from all three levels of government.
About The University of Toronto Trash Team
The U of T Trash Team, co-founded in 2017, is a science-based community outreach organization made up of undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, researchers, local volunteers and staff all working together with a common goal to increase waste literacy in our community while reducing plastic pollution in our ecosystems. Their local projects use education, community outreach and solutions-based research to deliver evidence-based solutions to decrease solid waste and promote a circular economy, and stop the leakage of plastic into our environment. Their ultimate goal is to work locally and build capacity globally by piloting solutions, informing prevention and cleanup, sharing resources, and inspiring independent groups to work together to scale up our collective capacity to tackle global plastic pollution.
About the PortsToronto Trash Trapping Program
The PortsToronto Trash Trapping Program employs trash trapping technology and solutions-based research to tackle plastic pollution and protect Toronto's waters for future generations. Since 2019, the Trash Trapping Program has removed hundreds of thousands of small pieces of plastic pollution from the Toronto Harbour. It is led by PortsToronto and the U of T Trash Team, in partnership with Swim Drink Fish, the Waterfront Business Improvement Area (WBIA) and the City of Toronto BIA Office Innovation Grant, Nieuport Aviation, the Toronto Zoo, Harbourfront Centre, and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). It is part of the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy, a partnership led by TRCA, and of the International Trash Trapping Network, an initiative led by the U of T Trash Team and Ocean Conservancy, and has influenced the launch of similar trash trapping and data collection programs throughout the Great Lakes and beyond.
About the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy
The Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy (Floatables Strategy) is a collaborative strategy with a mission to reduce plastic pollution and other floating litter in the harbour. It is a collaboration between the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority the Toronto Remedial Action Plan, University of Toronto Trash Team, PortsToronto, City of Toronto, Swim Drink Fish, Waterfront Business Improvement Area, Harbourfront Centre, and Waterfront Toronto. Partners in Project Green oversees the Floatables Strategy on behalf of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
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1 These rock-like masses are formed by the combination of fat, grease and wastewater materials, including wet wipes and diapers, that are released with wastewater redirected to the lake during heavy rainfall. |
SOURCE PortsToronto
Media Contacts: Jessica Pellerin, Senior Manager, Communications, PortsToronto, [email protected], (647) 298-0585; Susan Debreceni, Program Lead, Volunteer Engagement and Community Programs, U of T Trash Team, [email protected]
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