Article Written By: Kyle Kyungwon Park
Recently, nine distinctive coastlines have been distinguished as the areas in the Mediterranean most defiled with plastic. They comprise of prime tourist localities such as Barcelona, Marseilles, Tel-Aviv and the Venice coast near the Po river. World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) statistical report stated that all Mediterranean nations had failed to meet the expectations regarding plastic pollution limitations. WWF's statement confidently announced that 570,000 tonnes of plastic entered the ocean each year, which is approximately 33,800 plastic bottles every minute. The preservation association is drastically requisitioning authorities and the European Union (EU) to lessen plastic production and emphasize recycling.
Giuseppe Di Carlo, director of WWF Mediterranean Marine Initiative declared, "Our plastic system is destroyed - all Mediterranean countries still fail to collect all their waste. Plastic production is too cheap while it's waste management and pollution expenses are considerably liquidated on general communities alongside nature. All countries must overhaul their whole supply chain... This is the only way we can keep plastic outside the Mediterranean Sea."
According to the WWF Marine Initiative's research report, the seashore of Cilicia in south-east Turkey has the highest plastic contamination in the Mediterranean with 31.3 kg of detritus per kilometer.
Other locations mentioned include:
Barcelona - 26.1 kg
Tel Aviv - 21.0 kg
The Po Delta - 18.2 kg
Valencia - 12.9 kg
Alexandria - 12.7 kg
Algiers - 12.2 kg
Bay of Marseille - 9.4 kg
Izmir - 7.2 kg
The same report also underlined Egypt as the greatest producer of plastic waste in the Mediterranean. WWF stated that extreme levels of plastic usage by citizens and vacationists alongside poor waste collection systems continued being a predicament in varying countries. The report concluded with a crucial point that oceanic deterioration costs tourism, fisheries, and aquatic sectors roughly €641m ($722m) each year.
Unless quick action is made in these regions, it is highly likely that plastic pollution will quadruple by 2050.
Bibliography (MLA 8 FORMAT):
Website Citations:
Website 1:
Chadwick, Lauren. “This Is How Much Plastic Is Thrown into the Mediterranean Sea Every Second.” Euronews, 7 June 2019, www.euronews.com/2019/06/07/this-is-how-much-plastic-is-thrown-into-the-mediterranean-sea-every-second.
Website 2:
Onians, Charles. “Fishermen Catch Plastic in the Mediterranean as Part of New Italian Initiative.” The Japan Times, 6 June 2019, www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/06/world/science-health-world/fishermen-catch-plastic-mediterranean-part-new-italian-initiative/.
Photo Citations:
Photo 1:
World, BBC. “Mediterranean Plastic Pollution Hotspots Highlighted in Report.” BBC News, BBC, 7 June 2019, www.bbc.com/news/world-48554480.