World Environment Day: Let’s beat plastic pollution in the Mediterranean

June 6, 2018
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Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) joins the call for action of this 2018 World Environment Day to “beat plastic pollution”.

According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA), the average amount of municipal solid waste produced in the EU is 520 kg per person/year and is projected to increase to 680 kg per person/year by 2020. While solid waste generated in non‐EU Mediterranean countries is still approximately half the per capita level in the EU, waste generation in the southern Mediterranean region has grown approximately 15 % over the last decade; mostly due to a growing population and increased consumption.

This is the reason why the Plastic Busters project was recently launched by UfM. The goal is to monitor the impact of marine litter in the Mediterranean Sea.

A series of concrete prevention and mitigation actions and approaches are intended to be developed, tested and promoted during the project in several pilot areas in the Mediterranean basin. Following a ‘’life cycle thinking’’ and a circular economy approach, the project will also carry out a systemic evaluations of the feasibility, reliability and sustainability while involving relevant stakeholders such as port authorities, fishermen and municipalities.

 

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Press release

Countries covered:

  • Algeria
  • Egypt
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Morocco
  • Tunisia