Cyprus coastline polluted with 0.2 pieces of garbage per square meter

There are 0,2 pieces of garbage in every square meter of sand in Cyprus, according to data on coastal marine litter, released by the EU’s EMODNET database, the Head of the Board of Directors of AKTIS Xenia Loizides told the Cyprus News Agency.

Loizides said that the platform has 42,499 data for Cyprus, collected in 80 samplings from 20 coasts all over the island, including the occupied areas of the country. The collection and processing of data began in 2020.

According to Loizides, 86% of the garbage is plastic and the majority is plastic bottle lids.

The data was collected via a specific method supported by the EU and the project initially started as a bi-communal project by NGO AKTIS and MASDER.

Loizides said that this is the first time that data on marine litter in the Eastern Mediterranean was recorded in a systematic manner, adding that this is very encouraging for them to carry on their work.

She also said that following an invitation from the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research, the data was registered as official Cyprus data in order to monitor and assess the progress of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive on the island.

Loizides said that the Mediterranean is the most polluted sea in the world, in terms of plastic pollution.