The association Expédition MED warns of a significant increase in plastic pollution in this semi-enclosed sea, particularly accumulating between Corsica and the Tuscan island of Capraia.
Inexorably, the Mediterranean is becoming a dumping ground. Plastic waste, particularly microplastics, has reached unprecedented levels, according to a study by the association Expédition MED released on Thursday, November 28. Through its Vigieplastic Méditerranée campaign conducted over the summer, the organization measured microplastic concentrations reaching up to two million particles per square kilometer in certain areas—nearly double the levels observed in 2018-2019.
The Mediterranean is increasingly turning into a « dead sea, » warns Bruno Dumontet, founder of Expédition MED and co-author of a recent study on plastic pollution. “As a semi-enclosed sea, all the waste from the 22 bordering countries accumulates day after day,” Dumontet laments. At the current rate of plastic leakage, he foresees a large-scale environmental disaster within just a few decades.
500 Containers of Plastic Per Day
Mercedes Muñoz, marine biodiversity lead at the Mediterranean Cooperation Center of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), echoes the study’s findings, calling it an « alarming reality » that confirms the « persistence » and « growing scale » of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
According to a landmark 2020 IUCN report, approximately 229,000 tons of plastic are dumped into the Mediterranean each year—the equivalent of over 500 shipping containers daily—mainly due to poor waste management. Without significant action, this figure could rise to 500,000 tons annually by 2040.
Source: lemonde
