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Infographic

What are the sources and impacts of marine litter?

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Infographic
Prod-ID: INF-9-en
Published 12 Mar 2015 Last modified 22 Apr 2016
Increasing amounts of litter are ending up in the world’s oceans and harming the health of ecosystems, killing animals and putting human health at risk. The solution lies in waste prevention and better waste management on land.

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External Data Spec Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans Solid materials, typically waste, that has found its way to the marine environment is called marine debris. It is probably a common conception that marine debris consists of just a few pieces of rubbish scattered along the strand line of beaches and is of no harm to anyone. Unfortunately this is not the case. Marine debris has become a pervasive pollution problem affecting all of the world’s oceans. It is known to be the cause of injuries and deaths of numerous marine animals and birds, either because they become entangled in it or they mistake it for prey and eat it. Plastic and synthetic materials are the most common types of marine debris and cause the most problems for marine animals and birds. At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish.
External Data Spec Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear Fishing gear has been lost, abandoned or otherwise discarded in all seas and oceans ever since fishing began. The extent and impacts of the problem have increased significantly over the last 50 years with the increasing levels of fishing effort and capacity in the world’s oceans and the increasing durability of fishing gear. Fishing activity has now extended to previously untouched offshore and deep-sea environments, which are often very sensitive to the impacts of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG).

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Folder Marine LitterWatch data viewer and download The Marine LitterWatch (MLW) data viewer provides a map of beach litter data collection events organised by MLW communities. It also provides overview graphs and tables of both the data collected and community engagement.
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Organising clean-up events
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European citizens to help tackle marine litter Litter, plastics in particular, is accumulating in our seas and coasts mainly due to current unsustainable consumption and production patterns, poor waste management and the lack of public awareness. Marine litter is an increasing threat to the marine environment, to human health and our well-being. It has cross border impacts on wildlife and habitats. Without tackling marine litter, Europe cannot have healthy seas.
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Marine LitterWatch Litter, plastics in particular, is accumulating in our seas and coasts. Information and data on marine litter is essential for tackling it. The European Environment Agency has developed Marine LitterWatch mobile app to strengthen Europe’s knowledge base and thus provide support to European policy making.
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Marine litterwatch

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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/media/infographics/marine-litter-1 or scan the QR code.

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