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POLLUTION AND HEALTH | 23

Through the conference “The Mediterranean: a sea KEY ACTIONS
of plastic, what are the practical solutions?” on 24
March 2021, the initiative Beyond Plastic Med (Be- First and foremost, we must significantly reduce the
Med) sought to promote the latest reviews of plastic amount of plastic entering the Mediterranean: impro-
pollution in the Mediterranean, as well as practical ac- ving collection systems, banning single-use plastics,
tions implemented to address this problem. reducing household use of plastic, and cleaning cer-
tain significantly polluted areas (e.g. the Nile dam).

MARE PLASTICUM In the second half of the conference, the 2020 BeMed
awardees presented around twenty initiatives imple-
Firstly, Mercedes Muñoz Cañas from the International mented in 14 Mediterranean countries, including
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented the the smaller islands: waste management, innovative
conclusions of the report The Mediterranean: Mare recycling, raising awareness of local stakeholders,
Plasticum, published by the IUCN in 2020. Plastic pol- concerted actions, etc. The presentations, watched
lution is varied, spreading on the surface, infiltrating the by more than 60 people, led to lively discussions and
water column in microscopic form and covering the generated significant interest. BeMed awardees from
sea floor. How polluted is the Mediterranean? A very previous years were able to ask questions throughout
busy and almost completely enclosed sea, the Gor- the conference, and offer their experience to the en-
dian knot of major rivers in a densely populated and tire BeMed network.
plastic producing region (38 million tonnes per year),
the Mediterranean faces multiple aggravating factors.
In 10 years, it will have amassed 1.2 million tonnes of
plastic in its waters - a prudent estimate by the scien-
tific report’s authors, who envisage a concentration
3 times higher depending on the data used. This is
because plastic sinks, dissolves and easily slips under
the researchers’ radar.

Dealing with the challenges of this phantom pollu-
tion, despite ubiquitous signs, the IUCN’s summary is
the first of its kind to precisely combine an estimate
of plastic accumulated in the sea, and the estimated
plastic leaks from land. It also includes an assessment
of actions likely to help counter plastic pollution in the
Mediterranean.

WARNING: THE “PLASTIC
TAP” IS LEAKING

Experts estimate that 229,000 tonnes of plastic
are leaked into the Mediterranean each year (94%
macroplastic), which is the equivalent of 500 containers
per day. Egypt, Italy and Turkey seem to be the worst
offenders. Plastic hot spots tend to appear close to
the mouth of major rivers, near to major cities or urban
areas, as well as in certain areas which experience the © Mariano Cebolla
effect of currents.