Floating macrolitter leaked from Europe into the ocean

Daniel González-Fernández (), Andrés Cózar, Georg Hanke, Josué Viejo, Carmen Morales-Caselles, Rigers Bakiu, Damià Barceló, Filipa Bessa, Antoine Bruge, María Cabrera, Javier Castro-Jiménez, Mel Constant, Roberto Crosti, Yuri Galletti, Ahmet E. Kideys, Nino Machitadze, Joana Pereira de Brito, Maria Pogojeva, Nuno Ratola, Júlia Rigueira, Elisa Rojo-Nieto, Oksana Savenko, Rosanna I. Schöneich-Argent, Grzegorz Siedlewicz, Giuseppe Suaria and Myrto Tourgeli
Additional contact information
Daniel González-Fernández: University of Cádiz and European University of the Seas
Andrés Cózar: University of Cádiz and European University of the Seas
Georg Hanke: European Commission
Josué Viejo: University of Cádiz and European University of the Seas
Carmen Morales-Caselles: University of Cádiz and European University of the Seas
Rigers Bakiu: Agricultural University of Tirana
Damià Barceló: University of Girona
Filipa Bessa: University of Coimbra
Antoine Bruge: Surfrider Foundation Europe
María Cabrera: Paisaje Limpio Association
Javier Castro-Jiménez: Aix Marseille University, University of Toulon, CNRS, IRD
Mel Constant: Université de Perpignan Via Domitia UMR CNRS 5110
Roberto Crosti: Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
Yuri Galletti: CNR
Ahmet E. Kideys: Middle East Technical University
Nino Machitadze: Tbilisi State University
Joana Pereira de Brito: Águas de Gaia EM
Maria Pogojeva: State Oceanographic Institute
Nuno Ratola: University of Porto
Júlia Rigueira: OIKOS – Associação de Defesa do Ambiente e do Património da Região de Leiria
Elisa Rojo-Nieto: University of Cadiz
Oksana Savenko: Ukrainian Scientific Center of Ecology of the Sea
Rosanna I. Schöneich-Argent: Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
Grzegorz Siedlewicz: Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences
Giuseppe Suaria: National Research Council
Myrto Tourgeli: University of Aegean

Nature Sustainability, 2021, vol. 4, issue 6, 474-483

Abstract: Abstract Riverine systems act as converging pathways for discarded litter within drainage basins, becoming key elements in gauging the transfer of mismanaged waste into the ocean. However, riverine litter data are scarce and biased towards microplastics, generally lacking information about larger items. Based on the first ever database of riverine floating macrolitter across Europe, we have estimated that between 307 and 925 million litter items are released annually from Europe into the ocean. The plastic fraction represented 82% of the observed litter, mainly fragments and single-use items (that is, bottles, packaging and bags). Our modelled estimates show that a major portion of the total litter loading is routed through small-sized drainage basins (

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00722-6

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