In the middle of the Pacific Ocean floats a giant swirl of garbage - some scientists say it is twice the size of France - called the Plastic Vortex.

For decades, as people around the world have been tossing their unwanted goods into the ocean, it has been building. The ocean streams that stretch from the US to Japan create a spiral that keeps the garbage trapped in one place.

Since these are international waters, no one is pushing to clean it up, and no government is taking responsibility for the problem, even as the toxic plastic particles are being eaten by fish, which eventually make it to the human food chain.

To find out what is being done about the Plastic Vortex, Riz speaks with the man who discovered the patch 13 years ago, Captain Charles Moore, the founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

This episode of the Riz Khan show can be seen from Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 1630GMT, with repeats airing at 2030GMT, and the next day at 0130GMT.