The Mediterranean is one big plastic dustbin. 32 wastes per square kilometer

The most dense stretch of sea with floating garbage is the central Tyrrhenian Sea, particularly the area between Mondragone (CE) and Acciaroli (SA), with 51 pieces of garbage per square kilometer for a total of 2,600 floating garbage spotted by the Legambiente’s Goletta Verde while monitoring 2,600 km of navigation in the Mediterranean Sea (120 sq. km of sea in 205 hours of direct observation) between 2014 and 2015.
This is the shocking result of the “Marine litter 2015” survey presented as part of the“Plastic free sea” conference and focused on the amount, harm and prevention of litter in the sea. Of the 2,600 garbage sighted, 95 percent is plastic: an average of 32 per sq. km. Also included in the survey were microplastics off the islands, with Ischia having the highest values (528 plastic microparticles were detected per 1,000 cubic meters of water); but Tremiti, Lipari, Ventotene, Asinara, and Elba are not safe either.
In short, a magnum sea of plastic and garbage. between floating garbage, those lying on the beaches (the “Beach litter” survey carried out on an area of 136,330 sq. m., equal to almost 20 soccer fields resulted in the identification and disposal of 22,114 pieces of beach litter: in particular, 17 pieces of garbage per 100 sq. m. were found, 5 more pieces of garbage per 100 sq. m. than in the previous year’s study) and on the seabed, and those that have become tiny, invisible fragments. But let’s see what waste is most lightly left in the sea: 39 percent is plastic towels and bags, whole and fragmented (17 percent), mostly concentrated in the Adriatic Sea where there are 5 per square kilometer. This is followed by styrofoam boxes and fragments (7 percent), plastic bottles (6 percent), nets and fishing lines (5 percent), and plastic tableware (2 percent). The remaining 5 percent of marine waste is paper (54 percent), manufactured wood (21 percent), metals (12 percent), rubber (6 percent), textiles (4 percent) and glass (3 percent).

Ranking the second most littered sea with floating garbage is the southern Adriatic, with a density of about 34 percent per square kilometer. It is followed by the Ionian, with 33 percent. In the Adriatic, the most critical stretch is between Cesenatico and Ancona, where 42 wastes per square kilometer were detected. Also in this sea there was a higher presence of fishing-related waste (55 percent), such as styrofoam boxes, nets and fishing lines.