Further to Tuesday’s report in The Bulletin regarding the exceptionally high levels of waste currently accumulating off Balearic coasts, the environmental pressure group GOB is saying that international action is needed to counteract plastic pollution.
It has, therefore, urged the regional government to take the matter up with the secretariat for the Barcelona Convention, which was signed in 1976 as a means of protecting the Mediterranean from pollution.
GOB argues that control of the pollution from plastics cannot simply be made through the collection of waste, which is in any event a normal procedure. The root of the problem of the waste has to be addressed. “If there is no action at international level, the situation this summer will be repeated in coming years.
“And in addition to situations in which plastics arrive by the coasts, it has to be noted that the mass of floating plastic stays all year round in the open sea, continuously affecting biodiversity.”
The environmentalists are urging the regional environment ministry to report the incidence of high plastic waste to the office for the plan of action for the protection of the Mediterranean that is based in Athens.