Over 80 per cent of the waste collected on Italian beaches is plastic, and half of it is microplastics — findings from a study by Enea, the Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, which highlights how these materials represent a threat to the ecosystem and human health.

Plastic beaches

Italian beaches are covered in cotton buds, to the extent that the Enea study estimates there are at least 100 million of them. In some areas, up to 18 plastic objects per square metre have been found, and fragments produced by the degradation of plastic — better known as microplastics — account for 46 per cent of the material found on Italian beaches. The data were presented at the workshop "Marine litter: da emergenza ambientale a potenziale risorsa", organised by Enea in collaboration with the Accademia dei Lincei and the Forum Plinianum.

"The presence of plastics at sea is largely due to poor management of solid urban waste, the absence or inadequacy of urban wastewater treatment, and unconscious everyday individual behaviour. In doing so, the risk of turning our seas into landfill sites is very high. According to some projections, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish," explained Loris Pietrelli of Enea's department for the sustainability of production and territorial systems, and head of the research.

According to Unep (United Nations Environment Programme), the economic impact of waste in the world's seas amounts to 8 billion euros a year, and the European expenditure on the annual cleaning of beaches is estimated at around 412 million euros. The Mediterranean Sea, although not yet at the levels of the Pacific Trash Vortex, the plastic island in the Pacific Ocean, is nonetheless at risk: a 2015 EU study estimates that there are over 100,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre in Mare Nostrum.

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The threat of microplastics

Among the greatest threats to the marine environment and human health are microplastics — small pieces of plastic measuring less than 5mm — and it is precisely because of their small size that they are not retained by wastewater treatment plants.

Microplastics come from the degradation of larger plastic objects, but also from cosmetic products and the washing of synthetic fabrics. According to some studies, 700,000 plastic microfibres are discharged into the sea from a single washing machine cycle, and 24 tonnes of microplastics from cosmetic products used daily (toothpastes, scrubs, creams) are poured into the seas every day, entering the food chain.

Plastic degradation products have also been found in the livers of sea bass, and microplastics have even been found in table salt: a study carried out on swordfish found that the stomach contents of some specimens contained marine waste reflecting the types of plastic most commonly present in the marine environment.

Plastic: from threat to resource

The study conducted by Enea found that the plastic collected on shorelines and at sea consists mainly of thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, which accounts for 40 per cent of plastic material produced worldwide, and polypropylene (used for food containers, coatings, carpets, …) — materials that can be recycled into new commercially viable objects, and can thus move from waste to resource.

"Polymeric materials, commonly known as plastics, make up the majority of the objects we use every day. However, plastic pollution is not due solely to the extreme resistance of polymers, but to the way in which their life cycle is managed," Loris Pietrelli points out. "It is an issue that involves every stage, from the production of materials to the design of objects, through to their use and disposal, encompassing the habits and customs of our society. It is no longer acceptable to use certain objects for only as long as it takes to drink a beverage," Pietrelli concludes.

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