For most people, the Mediterranean Sea is an ideal vacation spot. Images associated with this destination are clear blue waters, endless beaches, and charming locations.
Unfortunately, thanks to him, things are no longer like that plastic pollution. In particular, according to a study by the Greek environmental organization WWF, 570,000 tons of plastic end up in the Mediterranean every year. What does it mean; This means that every minute (!) is like throwing 33,800 plastic bottles into the sea.
Plastic pollution is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years, while the production of plastic waste in the region is estimated to quadruple by 2050.
According to the same study, microplastics are now everywhere, and as a result, all people are exposed to plastic pollution (!). In fact, it is estimated that each of us unknowingly ingests amounts of plastic in the form of microplastics…
68 kg of plastic per person…
As you know, Greece produces about 700,000 tons of plastic waste per year, or 68 kilograms of plastic waste per person.
The influx of tourists to Greece’s coastal areas increases waste production to 26% during peak season, while only 8% of plastic waste is recycled…
It is estimated that approximately 40,000 tons of plastic waste are thrown into the environment every year. Of these, 11,500 tons end up in Greek seas, and almost 70% of this plastic waste pollutes the Greek coast every year.
It is estimated that the Greek economy will lose around 26 million a year due to plastic pollution, as it affects the tourism, shipping and fishing economy.
Effects on human health
According to recent studies by the World Wide Fund for Nature, more than 87% of the Mediterranean Sea, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, Europe and Asia, is contaminated with microplastics and other pollutants, including toxic metals and industrial chemicals.
Globally, water pollution is linked to 1.4 million premature deaths, causing problems for the 150 million people who live along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the 270 million tourists who visit these waters each year.
Widespread plastic pollution poses significant health risks due to the accumulation of persistent chemicals (PFAS / perfluorinated alkylated substances).
The biggest pollutants
According to the study, the biggest polluter is Egypt, which ends up with 0.25 million tons of plastic in the Mediterranean Sea. In the polluted sea, Turkey is next with 0.11 million tons and Italy with 0.04 million tons of plastic. All these amounts are a fraction of the 1.9 million pieces of plastic per square meter found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Danger to birds and fish
Humans aren’t the only ones affected by plastic pollution: according to research, 344 types of plastic have been found trapped in globally. In fact, in our wider region, the Mediterranean Sea, 134 types of plastic fall victim to ingestion.
Today, 90% of seabirds have a small piece of plastic in their stomachs (up from 5% in 1960), and by 2050 this percentage could reach 99% (!) if nothing changes.
It’s an open secret that plastics are suffocating the planet and threatening life… According to experts from the Environment Agency, 18% of tuna and swordfish have plastic debris in their stomachs (mostly cellophane and PET). A species of Galeus melastomus in the Balearic Islands.
It remains in the environment for hundreds of years
As noted by the environmental organization WWF, plastic is a material with particularly problematic properties. It is lightweight and therefore easy to carry around. It is durable and therefore does not decompose in the natural environment, remaining there for decades or hundreds of years.
And why is it such a big problem? Because, as they say from the environmental organization, plastic is a material with problematic properties, but also a material for which no solution is presented for its effective management.
Plastics are literally everywhere: in the soil, rivers, seas and the food chain, each of us unwittingly consumes five grams of microplastics per week.
According to experts, the uncontrolled production of plastic is not only drowning our cities and nature in plastic mass, but also worsens the triple planetary crisis: climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.
2+1 factors fueling plastic pollution
According to WWF Greece, plastic pollution is intensifying, among other factors, because:
– Mediterranean companies market 38 million tons of plastic products every year, but their help in managing the plastic waste produced is still not effective. In addition, due to the cheapness of “virgin” plastic, they do not invest in designing new products based on the reuse, reduction or even replacement of “old” plastic.
– Coastal activities are responsible for half of the amount of plastic that enters the Mediterranean each day, with more than 5 kilograms of plastic collected per kilometer of coastline, the study notes. Coastal areas with the highest pollution include popular tourist destinations such as Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Valencia, the Bay of Marseille and the Venetian coast, while Turkish Cilicia ranks first for plastic waste pollution.
– According to the report, problems in the management of plastic waste in the Mediterranean Sea are significantly aggravated by tourism, as tourists in the summer season increase the production of waste by 30% in many coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Tourism in Greece in particular increases plastic waste by 26% during the summer season, causing management costs of 4-8 million euros. It should be noted that marine litter costs the tourism, fishing and shipping sectors approximately €641 million annually.
A global problem
A recent study by the American office of the environmental organization Greenpeace (“Circular Claims Dropped Again”) shows that in 2021, households in the United States generated approximately 51 million tons of plastic waste, of which only 2.4 million tons were recycled (!).
The study notes, among other things, that plastic recycling is on a downward trend after falling by 5%-6% in 2021, from 9.5% in 2014 and 8.7% in 2018. When asked why this happened, the editors replied that it was due to China’s ban on the import of plastic waste in 2018!
It is noted that until then, the US (as well as many other countries) exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China, which it considered “recycling”, even though much of it was simply landfilled or incinerated. …
Now, following China’s move to ban plastic waste, it is ending up in Africa and other Asian countries. A United Nations report on how plastic pollution – and thus plastic production – disproportionately affects isolated communities and countries that, among other things, face high levels of environmental injustice, while they face even more environmental injustice. includes citizens of color.
Why Plastic Recycling Fails…
The question is reasonable: why does plastic recycling fail? The report by the American office of the environmental organization Greenpeace states that, among other things, plastic waste has failed because it is extremely difficult to collect, and this is due to the huge amount of plastic that overwhelms us everywhere. In addition, plastic waste needs to be sorted before being recycled, so even if it is collected, the trillions of plastic waste will not be able to be sorted.
According to environmental organization scientists, an important factor in the failure of the system, apart from consumers and the government (recycling systems, etc.), is the lack of commitment of manufacturers of plastic pollution, single-use plastic packaging, to monitor. cycle life of their products.