Progress report for
Preventing and significantly reducing marine litter in EU Member States' waters
Achievement at a glance
A European Plastics Strategy to curb plastic waste and littering and support concrete actions at global level was adopted in January 2018.<br>
<br>The Port Reception Facilities Directive that governs waste management of ships and at ports, was amended in December 2018. Among others, it introduces the 100% indirect fee for all ships, including fishing vessels and recreational craft, removing the incentive to illegally dump garbage (which includes fishing gear and passively fished waste) to the sea.
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<br>In May 2018, a target of halting the generation of marine litter was included in the EU waste management legislation.
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<br>At the end of 2018, new EU rules were adopted to tackle both sea and land-based sources of marine litter, focusing on the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear.
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<br>In September 2018, the European Commission set up a stakeholders group to tackle the issue of recycling end-of-use recreational boats.
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<br>Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and with the cooperation of the Regional Seas Conventions around Europe, marine litter is monitored. Baselines for quantities of marine litter in the various compartments (beach, water column, seafloor) as well as threshold values for preventing harm from litter are being set.
<br>Furthermore, many projects support the assessment and monitoring of quantities and impacts of litter and measures to prevent and reduce it, including through awareness raising and clean ups. The geographical scope of these projects covers EU Member States, neighbourhood countries, but also extends globally, underlining the EU commitment to fight marine litter in the G7, G20 and UN fora.
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<br>Eventually on the World clean-up Day in September 2018, more than 60 EU Delegations and representations gathered with local groups to clean beaches and raise awareness about marine pollution.
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Beneficiaries
Countries authorities implementing marine/coastal environment protection legislation (EU Member States, and in all regional seas surrounding Europe, including the Secretariats of the Regional Seas Conventions), academic and research institutions, NGOs, and Small and Medium Enterprises