Mass of litter in the water column and on the seafloor
Measurement answer
What this metric measures
Total mass of litter, including microplastics, found in disclosed aquatic environments in the water column and on the seafloor.
Specification
Metric specification
- Result format
- Single value
- Unit
- tonnes — source-defined reporting unit
- Reporting basis
- Measurement or reporting period disclosed by the reporting organization
- Aggregation
- Sum the mass of litter, including microplastics, separately or jointly across the disclosed aquatic compartments; retain water-column and seafloor components where available.
- Pillar
- Environmental
- Topic
- Aquatic litter and microplastics
- Controlled domain
- Pollution
- Entity type
- Metric
Reporting boundary
Litter found in the disclosed aquatic environments associated with the reporting organization's food-and-agriculture activities, including litter suspended in the water column and deposited on the seafloor.
Verified source occurrences
Framework coverage
This is one canonical metric. The bindings below show every verified framework occurrence without creating duplicate metric pages. Edition, disclosure, role, and relationship remain source-specific.
- Adopting DisclosureSource evidence
TNFD sector guidance
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents)
- Requirement
- Not Specified
- Relationship
- Defines Disclosure
- Mapping outcome
- Direct Evidence
- Source locator
- Food and agriculture, Version 1.0 (June 2024), Additional sector metrics table, State of nature: Ecosystem condition, p. 78 | Food and agriculture Version 1.0 (June 2024), p. 78, Additional sector metrics table; State of nature: Ecosystem condition
- Adopting DisclosureFA.A5.3
TNFD sector guidance
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Version 1.0, June 2024
- Requirement
- Recommended
- Relationship
- Maps Source Identity
- Mapping outcome
- Published
- Source locator
- Food and agriculture Version 1.0 (June 2024), p. 78, Additional sector metrics table; State of nature: Ecosystem condition
Value structure
Dimensions and units
- Unit
- tonnes — source-defined reporting unit
- Reporting basis
- Measurement or reporting period disclosed by the reporting organization
Unit meaning: Values use tonnes under the disclosed TNFD sector-guidance method, reporting period and boundary.
Published dimensions
- aquatic compartment: water column or seafloor
- litter type
- microplastics inclusion
- location or aquatic environment
- measurement date or period
- organizational or activity boundary
Calculation method
Formula information
- Status
- Specified
- Formula type
- Sum
Formula
M_total = Σ M_litterApply the source-defined TNFD sector-guidance method within the stated reporting boundary. The Food and agriculture additional-sector metric requests a directly reportable mass quantity in tonnes. The candidate label is narrowed by the specification, which explicitly includes both suspended litter in the water column and litter deposited on the seafloor; the canonical identity therefore retains both compartments. It is distinct from water-emissions and water-use metrics in the shortlist.
Variables
| Symbol | Variable | Definition | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
M_total | Total mass of litter | Mass of litter, including microplastics, identified within the disclosed aquatic boundary. | tonnes |
M_litter | Litter mass component | Mass measured or estimated for an included litter type, location and aquatic compartment. | tonnes |
Verified sources
Evidence and status sources
Sustopedia checked each record-specific claim directly against primary publisher material. Labels distinguish current measurement authority from future compatibility and corroborative, legal, edition, or method status context. Corroborative evidence can support a stated limitation but cannot establish the core measurement by itself.
Measurement evidence
- Measurement evidenceChecked 30 August 2026
TNFD additional sector guidance collection
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents)
- Locator
- Food and agriculture, Version 1.0 (June 2024), Additional sector metrics table, State of nature: Ecosystem condition, p. 78 | Food and agriculture Version 1.0 (June 2024), p. 78, Additional sector metrics table; State of nature: Ecosystem condition
Supports: The official TNFD sector guidance supports the identity, boundary and method basis of “Mass of litter in the water column and on the seafloor”.
Open official source
Use with context
Interpretation boundaries
Method disclosures required
Source-edition basis: TNFD sector guidance, Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents).
- Disclose the aquatic locations, organizational activities and geographic coverage included.
- Disclose whether the reported mass covers the water column, the seafloor or both, and provide compartment values separately where available.
- Disclose the litter and microplastic definitions, including relevant particle-size thresholds and treatment of non-plastic litter.
- Disclose the sampling, measurement, estimation and conversion methods used to derive tonnes.
- Disclose the measurement date or reporting period and the treatment of unmeasured areas or data gaps.
Record-specific limitations
- The metric measures litter present in aquatic environments rather than emissions, releases or waste generated by the organization.
- The extracted evidence does not prescribe a sampling design, geographic coverage, particle-size threshold or whether water-column and seafloor values must be reported separately.
- Observed mass can vary materially with sampling method, sampling depth, surveyed area, season and detection limits.
Interpret this metric with the stated reporting boundary, period convention, value shape, and unit. Results prepared with different boundaries or conventions may not be directly comparable.
Measurement evidence supports the core record-specific claims described above. Corroborative evidence can support limitations, while compatibility and status sources provide their separately labelled context. None of these cards by itself determines an organisation's legal applicability, filing readiness, assurance status, or compliance conclusion.