UfM: 570,000 tonnes of plastic debris ends up in Mediterranean every year

As a semi-enclosed sea and tourist attraction, the Mediterranean is particularly vulnerable to plastic that threatens its animal and plant species, ecosystem and human health, the Union for the Mediterranean, based in Barcelona, said in a press release.

The press release was issued at a moment when thousands of tourists prepare for vacation in Croatia, Montenegro, Spain, Egypt, and other summer destinations. The Mediterranean holds 1% of the world's waters but concentrates 7% of all global microplastics.

The Mediterranean is estimated to be polluted by 570,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year. This is equivalent to over 50 Eiffel Towers’ weight of plastic debris being thrown into our sea each year. The annual leakage of plastic is projected to quadruple by 2050, under a business-as-usual scenario, the Union for the Mediterranean says.

The Member-countries' ministers in October 2021 adopted a declaration on climate, a political document whereby they expressed a wish for structural coordination and a control mechanism for the environment to be introduced in the Mediterranean.

The member-countries cooperate at lower levels in the prevention of pollution.

UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel warned that fighting plastic pollution should be at the centre of the political agenda in the region because it kills aquatic wildlife, damages natural systems, and contaminates marine food chains.

Since the Mediterranean is a closed sea, any environmental impact in the North has consequences for the South, and vice versa. The UfM firmly believes that effective reduction of marine litter in the Mediterranean can only be achieved through collective efforts and cooperation among all Mediterranean countries and civil society, Kamel said.