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EC Public Consultation: 'How can we reduce marine litter?'

The European Commission has issued a press release stating that it seeks comments on how to address the problem of marine litter. According to the press release the seas and oceans are increasingly becoming the waste dump of the planet. Plastic waste forms 80 % of the enormous waste patches in the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, with fatal consequences for numerous sea species. The European Commission is asking for opinions on how we can best address this problem. The public consultation is open until 18th December 2013.

The European Commission is exploring options to set an EU-wide quantitative reduction headline target for marine litter, as called for in the recently-agreed 7th Environment Action Programme. The marine litter consultation is looking for additional input from citizens and stakeholders. The views of the public will help to identify the appropriate level of ambition for such a target. The questionnaire contains a series of actions that could be undertaken by consumers, retailers, the plastics industry, the shipping and fisheries industries, NGOs, local and national authorities and EU policy-makers to reduce the presence and impact of marine litter. These options include avoiding the use of single use plastic bags and plastic bottles, awareness-raising, clean-up actions, and setting reduction targets at national or local levels.