Plastic litter data collected in transect surveys in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, 2023
https://doi.org/10.5285/f7ae5395-8ed8-4046-acbd-4bdc699340e3
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This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence
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This dataset presents information on litter collected in 40 transects surveys conducted in rural, urban and protected areas on Santa Cruz island, Galápagos. Litter was collected between 8 and 18 July 2023 and data were subsequently analysed at the University of Exeter laboratory. Each transect survey covered an area of 200m2.
The dataset includes characteristics of the surveyed transects, location information, the number and weight of litter items collected by category and subcategory, data on human movement and the polymer type, colour and texture of litter. The data were collected to explore alternatives for reducing inland plastic waste through a circular economy approach. This work is part of a NERC funded project (NE/V005448/1), that aims to reduce plastic in the Galápagos Islands and the Eastern Pacific.
The dataset includes characteristics of the surveyed transects, location information, the number and weight of litter items collected by category and subcategory, data on human movement and the polymer type, colour and texture of litter. The data were collected to explore alternatives for reducing inland plastic waste through a circular economy approach. This work is part of a NERC funded project (NE/V005448/1), that aims to reduce plastic in the Galápagos Islands and the Eastern Pacific.
Publication date: 2026-05-15
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Format
Comma-separated values (CSV)
Spatial information
Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
WGS 84
Temporal information
Temporal extent
2023-07-08 to 2023-07-18
Provenance & quality
Litter was collected in 40 transects selected randomly using the geoprocessing analysis tool "create random points" in ArgGIS Pro 3.0.1. Ten transects per population count categories were selected (high, medium-high, medium and low derived from the LandScan dataset: https://landscan.ornl.gov/). Transects consisted of a 100mx2m area, where all the visible litter was collected, classified, counted and weighted.
Then the polymer identification was performed with two instruments: Spectrum Two PerkinElmer Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer with an attenuated total reflection (ATR) (measuring in a wavelength range from 650 to 4000 to cm-1 and a resolution 4cm-1) and a portable plastic identification device (PlasTell NIR plastics scanner, desktop version, Matoha Instrumentation Ltd.) equipped with a transmittance-reflectance NIR spectroscopy, 1550-1950 nm - 2NIR lamps built-in.
Human movement was recorded using Pyro Evo sensors, which are passive infrared sensors. These sensors were place in a fixed point in the transect surveys for 19 hours.
Data were initially recorded in field notebooks and subsequently digitized into an Excel database, where they were reviewed and standardized.
Then the polymer identification was performed with two instruments: Spectrum Two PerkinElmer Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer with an attenuated total reflection (ATR) (measuring in a wavelength range from 650 to 4000 to cm-1 and a resolution 4cm-1) and a portable plastic identification device (PlasTell NIR plastics scanner, desktop version, Matoha Instrumentation Ltd.) equipped with a transmittance-reflectance NIR spectroscopy, 1550-1950 nm - 2NIR lamps built-in.
Human movement was recorded using Pyro Evo sensors, which are passive infrared sensors. These sensors were place in a fixed point in the transect surveys for 19 hours.
Data were initially recorded in field notebooks and subsequently digitized into an Excel database, where they were reviewed and standardized.
Licensing and constraints
This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence 
Cite this dataset as:
Flor, D.; Osorio-Baquero, A.; Pinheiro, L.M.; Lindique, P.K.; Praet, E.; Zambrano, R.; Galloway, T. (2026). Plastic litter data collected in transect surveys in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, 2023. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/f7ae5395-8ed8-4046-acbd-4bdc699340e3
Related
Correspondence/contact details
Other contacts
Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Rights holder
University of Exeter
Additional metadata
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/V005448/1