The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program is the United States Government’s lead for addressing the impacts of marine debris on our ocean, waterways, and Great Lakes. We work with organizations around the United States and globally to prevent marine debris from entering the environment, remove it from coastal areas, better understand the problem through research and shoreline monitoring, and respond to debris created by disasters. Learn more about the Marine Debris Program.

A trash sorting facility with a truck that is full of trash backing into the building.

NOAA Marine Debris Program funds first fully in-person Urban Ocean Summit in Chennai, India

This June, thanks to funding from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Ocean Conservancy and its partners will host the first in-person meeting of the 12 current Urban Ocean cities at the Urban Ocean Summit! Urban Ocean® is a capacity-building and accelerator program to end ocean plastic pollution and build more resilient cities. Urban Ocean champions circular economy principles, builds awareness of ocean plastic pollution, assesses waste management systems, and supports cities to develop projects that address the interrelated challenges of ocean plastics and resilience. The program is jointly implemented by Resilient Cities Network, Ocean Conservancy and The Circulate Initiative.

Marine Debris Program Regions

In this section, you can find state or region-specific information on current marine debris projects and activities. Marine debris impacts every U.S. coastal state and territory. In order to address it, the NOAA Marine Debris Program positions coordinators around the country to provide local expertise and guidance to marine debris stakeholders.