Scientists are tracking the path of parking tickets to learn more about how microplastics are ending up in Sydney Harbour.
More than 30 Seabins, designed to filter out the city's water, have been collecting parking tickets and Seabin CEO Mahi Paquette says their journey can tell us what else ends up in the ocean.
"If the parking tickets made it that way, then we can sort of track where the microplastics, the soft plastics, the cutlery and straws and all the other stuff is coming from," she told AAP on Thursday.
By looking at the issue date and location of the tickets, the Seabin team has figured out it takes on average 48 days for a piece of plastic to end up in Sydney Harbour.
The Seabin pilot in Sydney is the first of its kind, with what founder Pete Ceglinski calls "a cross between a rubbish bin and a pool skimmer" collecting more than 4000 pieces of water-bound rubbish each day.
The team has just launched the Ocean Health lab, a solar-powered, retro-fitted 12-metre shipping container on the wharf outside the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney.
The lab is packed with volunteer scientists, dedicated to storing, drying, triaging and recording debris caught in the Seabins.
"Generating ocean health data that will help save our oceans is amazing, so to be starting here in Sydney Harbour is next level," Mr Ceglinski said.
"You only have to look at the data or even just look at the water to see how much waste is leaking into Sydney Harbour every day."
The $3 million program is endorsed by the City of Sydney but has received little funding from any level of government.
"That's just not sustainable," Mr Ceglinski said.
"The health of the water is like the elephant in the room. It's been really overlooked."
The foundation is lobbying government for more sponsorship after receiving an innovation grant covering just four per cent of its costs.
While the program has been successful, the real aim is to phase out the need for the bins altogether.
"We are engaging with the companies behind the plastic products that we keep finding in the Seabins to try to get them to phase out the plastic element," Ms Paquette said.
"And that includes the parking tickets."
