Plastic concerns on World Ocean Day

The Mediterranean is one of the most polluted by plastics. An environmental NGO calculated that every year 0.6 million tonnes of plastic waste is dumped into the sea. It's claimed that if the present trend continues, our oceans would contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

Barcelona: Consider the stats. Since 1950 we have created roughly 8.3 billions of plastic. A large chunk of this has gone into the world's oceans.

A UN reports in 2018 says that from bags to bottles about 13 million tons of plastic end up in the seas and oceans every year. In the Mediterranean sea alone , 0.6 million tons of plastic are dumped each year which is roughly eqivalent to 34 thousand plastic bottles every minute.

The Mediterranean region is one of the most visited and polluted regions in the world . World Ocean Day on June 8 reminds all how dangerous the situation is turning with each passing day.

A 2017 report by Ocean Conservancy says that just five countries - China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - dump more plastic into the ocean than the rest of the world combined.

The report says plastic pollution is killing marine life and that toxic fragments from plastic can end up in the food-chain causing ill health. Oceans would contain more plastic than fish by 2050.The UN says that globally 100,000 marine animals die each year due to plastic related causes.

It is increasingly found that many marine animals washing ashore ingested pastic products.

A report says the local authorities in the Mediterranean region are mismanaging around 28% of their waste, some of which is likely to end up in the sea. To compound the situation further the problem costs around 641 million euros each year to regional authorities.

Considering the problem assuming alarming proportions the WWF is calling on Mediterranean governments and the European Union to make a "joint binding commitment and national action to save the Mediterranean from plastic pollution" and "eliminate plastic leakage into nature by 2030".

With a petition signed by more than three million people around the world, the environmental NGO Greenpeace is calling on global brands to drastically reduce the production of plastic.