In what is considered a world first, vast plastic waste dumps may now be mapped from space using a new technique that combines satellite photography and artificial intelligence.

From rubbish burning on a Sri Lankan beach to plastic seeping into an Indonesian river, Global Plastic Watch (GPW) can detect sites as small as five by five meters and display them on an interactive global map of plastic.

"It's not about naming and shaming," Fabien Laurier, a key architect of GPW, noted; instead, it is about "empowering governments" with the knowledge to combat the problem.

The United Nations has "applauded" the free, public tool designed to prevent plastic from leaking into the ocean, and several people are already utilizing it.