Miami
Plastic at the Shoreline
Beach Sweep & Sort turns each cleanup into a field lab where students collect, sort, and log every piece of plastic. They record the item type, weight, polymer code, condition, and location, photograph unusual finds, and enter everything into Novelect’s coastal plastics database. By comparing their results over time, students learn how plastic moves through the environment and build a real dataset that tracks changes on Miami’s beaches.
Our Approach
Impact
2000+ Pounds of Waste Collected
25+ Cleanup Events
81% Plastic Recovery Rate
Total debris removed from South Beach areas.
Monthly and seasonal efforts since program start.
Sorted and recycled materials diverted from landfills.
Miami’s shoreline is increasingly covered with plastic debris: approximately 350 plastic bottles per mile, 4,700 plastic fragments per square kilometer, and up to 85% of all shoreline litter identified as plastic foam or film. These materials, broken down by sunlight and surf, enter the food chain and threaten coastal wildlife. With an estimated 3–5 tons of plastic washing ashore each month in the region, regular cleanup is essential to protect beach ecosystems.
Impact