According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report “The Mediterranean: Mare Plasticum”, nearly 230,000 tonnes of plastic are dumped into the Mediterranean basin every year. Among the causes of this pollution — for which Italy is one of the three biggest culprits alongside Egypt and Turkey — are high tourist flows, merchant shipping, and waste collection that is not always properly managed, leaving litter to disperse into the environment and reach the sea carried by rivers.