«961 waste surveyed for every 100 meters of beach. Plastic “wins”, but there are many building materials»- Corriere.it

An average of 961 waste every 100 meters of beach. Imagine two lanes of an Olympic swimming pool completely filled with waste of which 72.5% is made up of artificial polymers/plastics, which is still the most found material. To make matters worse, this year, there are also the refusals of glass/ceramica (9.2% of the total), mostly composed of building material (tiles, bricks, tiles, etc.) disposed of irregularly on the beach; metal (6.8% of collected waste); paper and cardboard (3.9% of the total); And fabrics, treated wood, rubber, bioplastics, food waste and chemicals. These are the data that emerge from the “Beach litter 2023” survey by Legambiente, which takes a clear picture of the waste emergency on the beaches (here the 2022 report). Specifically, they are 38 lidos monitored this yearrelating to 15 Regions (Liguria, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Lazio, Marche, Abruzzo, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Molise, Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia).

«Citizen science, network, civic engagement and active citizenship are the successful keywords of our campaign Clean Beaches and Seabeds», explains
Giorgio Zampetti, general manager of Legambiente, clarifying the importance of «shake up and sensitize all of us to become aware of incorrect and harmful habits for the environment; local and national institutions to cooperate to apply common waste management and disposal policies; companies and industries to commit themselves more and more to adopting sustainable practices and actions». The survey data speak for themselves: the beach still remains the main trashundifferentiated, of our activities.

About half of the total of these monitored waste (52% of the total) is represented by “sun» 10 types of object (out of the total 180 categories) with respect to which two elements emerge: on the one hand, entry into the top ten, directly in fourth place, of the building material with 5.8%; on the other the decline of the disposable tableware category, this year in ninth place in the ranking with 3% of the total. In first place are confirmed the fragments of plastic (between 2.5 cm and 50cm) with 10.9% of the total; they follow caps and lids with 8.6% of the total e cigarette butts with 6%. In fifth place, there are i c
plastic brass buds (4% of the total). With 3.9% of the total we find i Styrofoam fragments (between 2.5 cm and 50 cm) and le bottles and containers for drinks respectively in sixth and seventh place in the ranking. They close the ranking, in eighth and tenth place, with 3.1% and 3% respectively other plastic items and glass bottles (and pieces of glass bottles), a sad new entry in the top ten list of stranded waste. Also this year, plastic bottles, including caps and rings (15% of the total and 39% compared to the objects of the Sup — Single Use Plastics, the European Directive which aims to reduce the use of disposable, non-biodegradable and non-compostable plastics, and which has been applied in Italy since January 2022) are confirmed as the type of waste most found on beaches sampled by volunteers (5,487 times).

And like every year, from 12 to 14 May 2023 it returns throughout Italy the weekend of “Clean Beaches and Seabeds”, the historic Legambiente campaign dedicated to the monitoring and cleaning of abandoned waste along the coasts of our peninsula. The motto of this 33rd edition will be «Those who love the beach, treat it with kid gloves», a real one call to action which aims to send a clear message on the importance of protecting the marine ecosystem and on how much the commitment of each of us, combined with a more sustainable lifestyle, can really make a difference. There will be over 80 initiatives scheduled from 12 May and which will continue throughout the month, which can be consulted on www.legambiente.it. From Egypt to Algeria, from Greece to Portugal, passing through our coasts, over 80 organizations from 15 other different countries (Albania, Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, the State of Palestine, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Portugal and Israel) will join the big weekend of May 12 for one common battle to defend the fragile and wonderful ecosystem of the Mare Nostrum from marine litter.