Clean Seas, united with UNEP against plastic in the seas

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Plastic pollution numbers

The production of plastic has increased exponentially in recent decades. We went from 2 million tons in 1950 to more than 430 million in 2017 and production is expected to quadruple by 2050.

The disposal of plastic waste, on the other hand, is in trouble:

only 10% is recycled,
14% is incinerated,
76% is disposed of in landfills or released into the environment.

A lot of this plastic is exported to countries with inefficient waste management capacity and, in recent years, the illegal trade in plastic waste has increased. (1)

A plastic truck in the sea every minute

Every year, 8 million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the sea, as if every minute a truck unloads its load into the sea.

A thousand rivers of the world are responsible for 80% of global pollution and 51 trillion particles of microplastics, i.e. fragments of plastic smaller than 5 mm, float in the sea.

46% of the plastic found in the sea is made up of abandoned fishing equipment, such as nets and creels. (2)

The consequences of plastic in the sea

Plastic waste they can be mistaken for food by animals. In fact they represent one of the main causes of death of fish and seabirds. Or they can be real traps. According to the WWF, there are 700 species affected by plastic material pollution. (3)

At sea, plastic follows the currents up to the Arctic and even to the top of Everest. As it degrades into smaller and smaller particles it manages to enter in drinking water and even to remain suspended in the air. When we consume contaminated fish, it also enters in our diets. Even traces of plastic were found in our blood e in the human placenta with risks for health not fully explored.

The Clean Seas Commitment

The Clean Seas platform by UNEP aims to create more awareness of the consequences of marine plastic pollution on wildlife and our health. The platform is open to everyone. In fact, it brings together private citizens, civil society groups, businesses and governments to achieve a drastic reduction in waste.

Since 2017, the year of its creation, 69 countries have joined Clean Seas, representing 76% of the world's coasts. Clean Seas has become an important tool in driving the transformation of habits, practices and policies around the world. Even landlocked countries are joining because they understand the importance of keeping rivers clean from source to mouth. (4)

Government commitments

The commitment of governments it is important to raise public awareness, offer incentives for recycling and implement binding laws on reducing or banning useless and avoidable plastics. By joining the campaign, countries can access a platform and best practices to profile their work and encourage others to take action. They can also request technical support from UNEP to develop their own action plans.

Here are some examples of the commitments that countries have made since joining the Clean Seas campaign:

Mexico City since 2020 it has banned plastic bags and the authorities are also committed to banning straws, glasses, cutlery and other single-use plastic items;
Chile banned the use of single-use plastic bags and expanded marine protected areas to 42% of coastal waters;
Philippines they have increased their efforts by trying to reclaim Manila Bay and removing 2019 tons of waste from the sea in 2000 alone;
in Kenya from 2020 it is forbidden to introduce single-use plastic in national parks, beaches, forests and protected areas.

Even the European Union has engaged with Clean Seas, in 2017 through the Aquaria coalition campaign to raise awareness of marine litter, and in 2019 by passing the directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products (SUP directive, 2019/904/EC). (5) However, efforts are never enough. Now let's hope that the packaging reduction regulation and on the enhancement of recycling and reuse is approved.

The fundamental role of companies

Companies play a vital role in this match. In fact, these are the ones that produce an enormous amount of plastic packaging that is often not recycled and is incinerated or dispersed into the environment. Many of the largest companies, said Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company (FMCG) made commitments in 2018 to reduce packaging or increase recycling (New Plastic Economy Global Commitment).

Their sites they are studded with promises and commitments of sustainability. However, the BFFP document crumbles this green narrative (6) while the 2022 UNEP report, which evaluates the progress of the commitments made, states that the objectives will almost certainly not be achieved. (7)

Coca-Cola Company, for example, which distributes 120 billion bottles a year, has pledged to recycle one used bottle or can for every new one sold by 2030 and to increase the recycled plastic content in bottles to 50 percent by the same date. (8) Too bad that most of the residues found on the beach in recent years belong to this company.

The industry responsability

Break Free From Plastic it is an international movement that brings together organizations and individual citizens. Every year since 2018 he has made a reporting., Brand Audit Reports, where the plastic waste recovered from the beaches by volunteers from 44 countries is analysed.

For 63% (data increasing) the waste collected in 2022 belongs to the Coca-Cola Company. Then we have PepsiCo, Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Mondelez International, Philip Morris International, Danone, Mars and Colgate-Palmolive, which rank first every year. (9) Coca-Cola Company was even the official sponsor of COP27 on climate change. A clear example of greenwashing.

The power of consumers

We, individual citizens, we have great power even if we often don't realize it. We can choose. Choosing which products to buy, with what type of the packaging, we prefer the reusable ones. We check the ingredients of cosmetics, the materials of our clothes and we recycle.

More than 111.000 people have made a commitment to Clean Seas and have shared their experiences about social to involve others. Through a simple game available on the site (10), everyone can make a commitment to nature and the oceans. And on the next beach walk, we pick up any trash we find and mention #CleanSeas in our photos. We can be an example for others. Let's make the cleanup of the seas go viral!

Alessandra Mei