If you have read last week’s Map of the Week, you may recall that 5 June was World Environment Day and the 2025 theme was ‘Beating plastic pollution’. Plastics can take thousands to tens of thousands of years to degrade. Since the 1950s, 7 billion tons of plastics have become waste. [1] Plastic waste can end up in aquatic ecosystems, both freshwater and marine ecosystems. Most marine litter stems from land-based pollution and 80% of those are plastics. [2]
This week, the Map of the Week looks at the composition of litter ending up on beaches across Europe. The map at the European scale shows that artificial polymer materials, which include plastics, constitute the predominant type of marine litter. Plastic pollution comes in different forms, ranging from macroplastics (pieces larger than 20 centimetres) to microplastics (pieces smaller than 5 millimetres) and all the way to nanoparticles we cannot see. Plastic litter generates multiple environmental, health and economic impacts [3]:
Large pieces (macroplastics) such as fishing nets and groceries bags lead to wildlife entanglement, choking and physical damage;
Smaller pieces (microplastics) are ingested and then passed through the entire food chain;
Plastics are harmful as they release both toxic additives (colour, texture agents etc.) and environmental contaminants concentrated on the plastic litter prior to ingestion;
Plastic litter pushed by ocean currents can carry bacteria or invasive organisms to isolated regions, disturbing fragile ecosystems;
Aesthetic degradation of the coastlines negatively affects the tourism industry;
Marine litter impacts fisheries and aquaculture, damaging fish gear and boats but most importantly affecting fish stocks.
Use the + symbol to zoom in to various European beaches and discover which kinds of litter are found there. Click on the graphs to get more information.
Marine litter is one type of marine pollution that threatens the ocean, the most visible one. Other types of pollution include eutrophication (nutrient pollution), contaminants (pesticides, heavy metals, toxins), underwater noise (e.g. noise from oil drilling, shipping) and ocean acidification (atmospheric CO2 dissolving in the ocean). [4,5]
Marine pollution has no borders. Therefore, coordinated European Union (EU) level actions and initiatives are of benefit to all EU countries bordering the European seas. The objectives are [4]:
Preventing marine pollution from land-based sources, shipping, and other activities;
Promoting sustainable fishing practices to protect marine biodiversity;
Enhancing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with environmental regulations;
Collaborating with international partners to address global marine pollution challenges.
The good news is that raising awareness and taking action pays off! The EU Coastline Macro Litter Trend Report published by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) showed that marine macro-litter abundance at European coastlines decreased by 29% between 2015-16 and 2020-21, with some seas showing stronger drops than others.[6] The report was developed based on data provided by EU Member States to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). Did you know that EMODnet is a trusted data service that has been providing marine environmental and human-activities data since 2009 and that it powers the European Atlas of the Seas?
We are thus moving in the right direction thanks to European Union, multinational, national, regional and citizen efforts. However, the report notes that, despite the encouraging trends showing the positive impacts of mitigation measures, the abundance of litter in many European areas remains high and demands the implementation of additional effective measures. [6]
Plastic pollution is thus high on the agenda. Much has happened on this topic this week at the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 2025) in Nice (France), amongst which the following elements can be highlighted:
- The "A bout de plastique" Pavilion at the Whale convergence space between the general public and the global ocean community gathered for UNOC 2025 highlighted the scale of the global plastic pollution crisis and presented concrete solutions at all levels. This Pavilion organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the TARA Ocean Foundation and Plastic Odyssey highlighted individual actions (refuse, recycle, restore) while emphasising the importance of political responses, notably through the new International Treaty on Plastic.
- On 10 June 2025, at UNOC, more than 40 ministers gathered to tackle plastic pollution. They voiced a shared determination to finalise this year a global treaty that could, for the first time, regulate plastics across their entire life cycle. The treaty process was launched in 2022, at the request of the UN Environment Assembly. [7]
- UNOC concluded on 13 June 2025 with more than 170 countries adopting an intergovernmentally agreed declaration committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the ocean. The political declaration titled Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action calls for concrete steps to expand marine protected areas, decarbonize maritime transport, combat marine pollution, and mobilise finance for vulnerable coastal and island nations, among others. The declaration – together with bold voluntary commitments by States and other entities – constitutes the Nice Ocean Action Plan. [8]
Wish to know more?
- Learn about the EUBeachCleanup 2025 campaign, a global initiative for clean and plastic-free oceans. Although World Cleanup Day falls on 20 September, this campaign runs from 3 June 2025 until 31 October 2025. You can participate by joining an event, or even create your own! By sharing results and pictures of registered events, we are truly working together towards clean and healthy oceans!
- Read the United Nations’ article on the conclusions of UNOC 2025 to get an overview of its outcomes!
The data in the map is provided by EMODnet.
[3] https://marine.copernicus.eu/explainers/phenomena-threats/plastic-pollution
[4] https://oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu/ocean/clean-and-healthy-oceans_en
[5] https://marine.copernicus.eu/explainers/phenomena-threats
[7] https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164301
[8] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2025/06/closing-press-release-2025-unoc/