1,000kg of Trash Removed from the Ocean

Today we undertook our 32nd PADI AWARE Dive Against Debris event since our newest clean up mission started less than 9 months ago.

Over those 32 dives our incredible team of staff, partners from Atoll Marine Centre and volunteers have removed 12,669 pieces of debris from our house reef weighing 1,029.9kg!

While we are thrilled at this landmark in our Dive Against Debris mission, we also have to remember the larger cause of our plastic problem.

PADI estimates that 14 million tons of plastics enter the ocean every year, which means in less than 2.5 seconds all of the rubbish we have removed will be replaced.

With an accumulated dive time of 5,779 minutes taken to remove this trash we know that our actions, while substantial to our house reef, are not enough to counteract the global plastic problem.

In 2022 the UN Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution to create a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution. Since then the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee has met five times, but, in November 2024 global leaders were unable to finalise a Global Plastics Treaty, with debates over plastic production limits and enforcement measures delaying progress. With the next, and final, round of negotiations scheduled to start tomorrow, the 5th of August 2025, we can all act now and sign the PADI AWARE petition to help end the plastics crisis once and for all.

https://www.padi.com/global-plastics-treaty