Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Tuesday his intention to launch a plan to reduce plastic pollution targeting the 50 sites in France that are the biggest sources of plastic packaging, in his general policy speech. These packaging materials represent one-third of the plastic used, but nearly 60% of that found in nature and oceans. In response to this observation, French citizens are taking action. In Marseille, more than 150 associations are working together actively to combat plastic pollution.
François-Alexandre Bertrand, founder of the Blue Odyssey Initiative association, featured in the TF1 report at the beginning of this article, sails along the coasts and maps out polluted areas: « When I see underwater pollution, it breaks my heart, » he says. The information he gathers enables volunteer divers to intervene and clean up the seabed. Off the coast of the Calanques, plastic bottles, tires, are found amidst the grass and algae. Some waste is unfortunately impossible to recover, like those revealed by a marine robot below, more than 2000 meters below sea level.
« These plastics will decompose quite rapidly, » explains François-Alexandre Bertrand. « They will quickly become microplastics and then nanoplastics, microscopic particles that can no longer be recovered. » And, inevitably: « Fish and marine biodiversity ingest plastic, » he concludes.
