It is estimated by scientists that around 250 billion pieces of plastic are swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. With this in mind, it’s good to know there are solutions at our disposal and on Seas At Risk’s educational website Learn2sea.org we’ve uploaded some excellent new materials for teachers, children, adults, industry and NGOs to discover more!
With a bar of soap and some water, keeping our skin clean used to be so simple. Now, some care products include small plastic grains and these ‘scrubbers’ are ending up in the marine environment through discharged sewage water. SAR member organisation SDN is calling for action and an end to this worrying source of marine plastic pollution.
Scientists have discovered another unlikely source of microplastics that are plaguing our beaches and seas: Putting clothes made out of synthetic fabrics through the washing machine!
In response to the European Commission’s consultation on reducing the use of plastic bags, Seas At Risk has put full support behind the call for a Europe wide ban on disposable bags and measures to encourage the uptake of sustainably sourced long life alternatives.
Seas At Risk member, the Marine Conservation Society, is urging coastal lovers to join forces for this year’s September beach clean, as results from last Autumn's clean up shows litter levels are still rising on UK beaches.
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on plastic carrier bags and in particular is assessing the effectiveness of a ban or levy to discourage and reduce their use.
Reports of EU plans to pay fishers to catch plastic, rather than fish, is a double edged sword: cleaning up marine litter is desperately needed but paying fishers to collect plastic in a manner that keeps afloat a largely unsustainable industry is tantamount to an environmentally damaging subsidy.
Understanding marine litter and how waste enters our oceans is crucial in order to better realise the sorts of solutions that can tackle the problem – new materials uploaded to learn2sea.org provide a great opportunity to find out more.
40,000 people, 35 countries and over 950 clean-up operations across the globe has signalled to policy makers that marine litter must be taken seriously and acted on accordingly through appropriate legislation.
Representing the interests of plastics manufacturers, the lobby group Plastics Europe has complained to the European Commission and is trying to overturn an Italian government initiative that would reduce the amount of plastic bags entering the marine environment.
A new report on marine litter has highlighted a problem that not only ruins beaches and maims unsuspecting wildlife but costs governments and industry millions of Euros each year.
At a European Commission Workshop yesterday Green MEP Keith Taylor called on the EU to take action on marine litter as Commissioner Potočnik urged for greater focus on solutions.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has taken steps to further regulate garbage from ships by agreeing to a set of proposed drafted amendments to existing regulations – Once adopted, strong enforcement will be crucial.
Ministers attending next week’s high level meeting of the OSPAR Commission in Norway will be asked by Seas At Risk, KIMO International and other environmental NGOs to support a manifesto calling for urgent action to deal with marine “garbage patches” and the build up of marine litter in the North-East Atlantic.
The annual Mediterranean beach clean-up, as organised by Seas At Risk member Legambiente, will take place this year between the 29th and 30th of May.
A joint project between Seas At Risk and member organisation Stichting De Noordzee has culminated in a new brochure detailing the escalating problem of marine litter - which is now available online.
In response to a formal written question put forward by Caroline Lucas MEP, the European Commission has acknowledged the problem of waste at sea but has given little hope for immediate action to prevent this spiralling problem.
A leaked report by the German government has heavily criticised both the United Nations and the European Union’s efforts to prevent the continuing build up of marine waste at sea, the German magazine Spiegel Online has reported.
A group of scientists has set sail to study the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The study’s maiden voyage, from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands through the Sargasso Sea, is part of the 5 Gyres Project, which will launch a second sail across the South Atlantic in August. Participating in and directing the project are researchers Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins, who have worked with Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF), documenting the growing accumulation of plastic pollution in the North Pacific Gyre.
The Dutch government has urged action on marine plastic debris.
The Dutch delegation presented a note to EU Environment ministers in at the Environment Council in Luxembourg on 21st October.
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