Regarding small research balloons: that has never been the case.
Even the NWS has a return rate of 20% for the radiosondes they attach to weather balloons.
Not saying a rules change can't be considered, but the current rules are "n'ah." No more than people are expected to retrieve their plain-old helium balloons from birthday parties (and we know those do ecological damage).
I get that NOAA and NWS and whomever else release balloons that they never see again, but those at lease provide helpful data that benefits the public in some way. These seem to just... blast some portion of the EM spectrum with their location?
The interesting data they provide is how they move and the air currents that cause that motion.
Amateur science is still science and woe betide the free people that moves towards reserving science to professionals disproportionate to risk of harm.
Pretty low. Successfully crafting it, getting it off the ground, and having it go as far as the ocean without popping is a pretty good accomplishment providing value disproportionate to cost.
More environmental damage was likely done fabricating the plastics in the balloon than crashing it into the sea.
I spend most of my days picking up trash from the ocean (<1 mile away from me). Suffice to say, our perceptions of the difficulty and nobility of throwing trash into it are vastly different.
Even the NWS has a return rate of 20% for the radiosondes they attach to weather balloons.
Not saying a rules change can't be considered, but the current rules are "n'ah." No more than people are expected to retrieve their plain-old helium balloons from birthday parties (and we know those do ecological damage).