According to a study, incorrect waste disposal is primarily responsible for the plastic pollution of the Mediterranean in a few countries. According to a new calculation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), annual flows are currently estimated 230. 000 Tons of plastic into the Mediterranean, just from the 33 states on its coasts and along important tributaries such as the Nile, Po and Rhone. This corresponds to the content of more than 500 freight containers per day, as the IUCN announced on Tuesday in Gland near Geneva.

Especially plastic from Egypt and Italy According to the study, plastic waste makes up 94 Percent of this amount. The largest share comes from Egypt (estimated around 74. 000 Tons per year), Italy (34. 000 tons) and Turkey (24. 000 Metric tons). In terms of population, however, the front runner is Montenegro (around 8 kilograms of plastic waste per year and person), followed by Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. Microplastics – the finest particles from tire abrasion, textile fibers or cosmetics – make up the other six percent.

More than a million tons of plastic could now be found in the Mediterranean the authors estimate. A little more than a third of the plastic waste that ends up in the sea comes directly from cities near the coast. The remaining 65 percent are carried by rivers into the sea.

Ten states in particular responsible The study authors examined the plastic footprint of a total of 33 countries, including 20 coastal states, but also states along the Nile. 80 According to their estimates, percent of plastic can be traced back to garbage from only ten countries. In addition to Egypt, Italy and Turkey, these are Albania, Tunisia, Uganda, North Macedonia, Kenya and Bulgaria.

Plastic pollution can cause severe long-term damage to ecosystems on land and in water, emphasized the director of the IUCN program for seas and polar regions, Minna Epps. “As this report makes clear, the current and planned measures are not sufficient to reduce the flow of plastic and prevent these influences.”

The experts warned that the amount of waste could increase by 2040 will double if no decisive action is taken. If, for example, waste management is improved in the 100 cities, which contribute the most to the amount of waste, the amount of waste could be reduced by a quarter. Bans on, for example, single-use plastic items could