Tag Archives: Marine Litter

Solid Waste Management in the Mediterranean – Challenges, and Success Stories

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Solid waste management in the Mediterranean region represents one of the most complex and pressing environmental challenges of the 21st century, shaped by a unique combination of demographic pressures, economic disparities, tourism intensity, and fragile ecosystems. The Mediterranean basin, home to over 500 million people and one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, generates rapidly increasing volumes of municipal solid waste (MSW), while facing persistent structural deficiencies in collection, treatment, and disposal systems. These challenges are particularly acute in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries, where institutional, financial, and technical limitations hinder progress toward sustainable waste management systems. Scale of … Continue reading →

The Menace of Marine Litter

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Marine litter, long a neglected topic, has started to garner some attention. Marine litter is composed of a diverse mix of items from various sources and so a one-size fits all solution is unlikely to be effective. Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), shipping wastes, plastic packaging (bottles, caps, bags, etc.) and plastic manufacturing pellets are amongst the most common and persistent items found. Comparing the feasibility and the financial case for recovery versus prevention for each of these groups reveals a worrying gap in our attempts to deal with the problem. Scale of the Problem Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing … Continue reading →

Plastic Pollution: The Search for a Sustainable Solution

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Given the present momentum of events, anthropocene may not last for long as it is engineering the apocalypse with the wonder material – Plastics. Anthropocene signifies the geological period when humans have been the dominant influence on the planet’s environment. According statistics, the world produced 322 million metric tons of plastics in 2015; and it is likely to be four times more by 2050. Plastics have become ubiquitous in our lives today. This wonder material which was invented in 1907 is thickly intertwined with every aspect of our lives today – from toothbrush to the sophisticated gadgets and equipment which … Continue reading →