Plastic: Landfills in the Depths of the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean it is the most polluted sea in the world. In the depths of the sea there plastic it’s everywhere now. Remediation operations are increasing, but this is not enough to solve the problem. The main solution is that of Reduce the amount of waste to the ground.

A team of researchers has discovered a real landfill about two kilometers deep in the undersea canyon of monaco. Among the garbage was even a jar of yogurt from a brand that disappeared 20 years ago.

The Mediterranean is the world’s top tourist destination and sees about a quarter of global sea traffic, making it subject to high human pressure. The WWF warns that the sea has reached saturation level with 5-10% of the world’s plastic. According to theUNESCO this is the cause of the death of approximately one million birds and more than 100,000 mammals each year worldwide.

There are numerous waste collection campaigns throughout the river basin, but the effort is largely insufficient. This is because, according to Lucie Courtialof the Monegasque Society for the Protection of the Environment Beyond Plastic Med, boat expeditions can exacerbate the situation because of the ecological footprint. Therefore, it would make more sense to collect the waste on the beaches before it is dispersed into the sea.

Ecologists and scientists fight for better management of this waste on land, certainly more efficient and cheaper than collection at sea. The problem is that waste management on the shores of the Mediterranean is not homogeneous and still exists in some countries open landfills.