Filenews 5 December 2022 - by Despina Psylou
Cigarette butts, bottles, lids, food packaging, bags are found among the corals and golden grains of sand on the shores of Cyprus. Plastic items make up 86% of the entire island's marine litter. An aggravating factor for pollution is traffic and the absence of effective cleaning practices. It is no coincidence, after all, that on tourist beaches up to five times more garbage is found. These are the results of the study "Seasonal and geographical variations of marine litter: An extensive study from the island of Cyprus", which was carried out under the general supervision of the Center for Studies and Research "AKTI", funded by the European Union. For the purposes of the study, 20 beaches from the free and occupied areas were monitored, in four different periods within 2021. "Marine litter has been identified as a significant threat to marine ecosystems, the environment, human health and society," it underlines.
A total of 42,499 pieces of waste were collected during the study in four different monitoring excursions (January, March, June, September) from 20 beaches across Cyprus. The vast majority of garbage was made of plastic (86.3%) and almost all (61.6%) was disposable items. The most prevalent are plastic bottles and caps (23%), plastic fragments beyond 2.5 cm (22.1%) and cigarette butts (17%). In addition, straws, cutlery and crockery, plastic bags, containers and food wrappers are mentioned in abundance. "Plastic was the dominant element of marine litter across the island in all four interceptions, accounting for 75% to 95% of all collected litter," the study noted.
Especially for the beaches under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, it was underlined that cigarette butts were the majority of plastic waste (42.5%). This is followed by bottles and lids (16.3%), microplastics larger than 2.5 cm (12%), food containers and wrappers (6.5%), various other items (6.3%), plastic bags (5.5%), straws (4%), cutlery and crockery (2.5%).
Cigarette butts flooded the coast during the June and September surveillance. It was found that their number was five times greater in the tourist beaches, as 5,154 pieces were collected from them compared to 1,084 in the non-touristic ones. "A closer look at the data reveals that 57.7% of cigarette butts collected from all monitoring beaches came from two, Fig Tree Bay Beach and Nissi Beach." In addition, a lower average density of marine litter was found in remote locations compared to semi-urban and urban areas, which is attributed to the reduced number of visitors.
As highlighted in the study, all the examined beaches of the free areas had a relatively high density of marine litter during the first monitoring session in January, "apparently due to an accumulation of litter that was not cleaned during the previous months." In the second monitoring session (March), marine litter densities were lower at all locations. This, as noted, could be related both to the low number of visitors and to the energies of the waves that wash away the shores. The highest densities of marine litter were observed in June and September, especially on highly touristic beaches.
The fact that the highest average marine densities of litter were observed on tourist beaches, suggests that "a greater effort is needed from the competent authorities, especially in the peak tourist season, to minimize litter and more effectively clean the coast".
However, the study underlines that the implementation of extended producer responsibility schemes, the launch of a deposit reimbursement scheme, the issuance of dissuasive fines to polluters and the freezing of coastal businesses, have been identified by stakeholders in Cyprus as practicable, effective and acceptable measures to minimise marine litter.
Research methodology
Four different monitoring excursions were carried out (January, March, June, September) from 20 beaches all over Cyprus. The shores selected had a minimum length of 100 meters, were accessible all year round and were free from anthropogenic obstacles (e.g. piers or breakwaters). They were categorized based on: Their geographical location, the level of urbanization (urban, semi-urban and remote), tourism.
In the free areas were monitored: Pervolia beach, CTO beach in Pyla, Faros beach, Governor's Beach, Lady's Mile beach, Faros beach (Paphos), Lara, Asprokremos beach, Pomos beach, Fig Tree Bay, Nissi beach.
The variables considered were waste material, tourism, urbanization, monitoring period, location and whether it was free or occupied territory.
Europe's most polluted, the Mediterranean
As the most polluted sea in Europe and the sea most affected by marine litter worldwide, the Mediterranean Sea has been described by scientists, the study says. A recent report (2020) estimates that the stock of plastic accumulated in the Mediterranean Sea is about 1.2 million tons. It is underlined that inefficient waste management (especially from coastal locations) is a key cause of marine pollution, while it is estimated that annually 229,000 tons of plastic garbage end up in the Mediterranean every year.
This unique and sensitive ecosystem is subject to severe anthropogenic pressures, to which agriculture and development, the concentration of coastal populations (especially in the southeast), the very strong tourism industry and shipping contribute, as the Mediterranean is one of the busiest sea lanes in the world. In addition, tourism is cited as the biggest factor for litter on the beaches of the Mediterranean islands.
Scientists note that due to this marine garbage the biodiversity of the Mediterranean is "definitely under threat", affecting at least 134 species.
The impact of marine litter on human health is mainly related to the consumption of seafood containing microplastics (i.e. fragments smaller than 5mm), which enter the food chain.
Such pollution can cause a significant loss of quality and services to the ecosystem, as well as significant economic impacts resulting from both the loss of fish stocks and the loss of tourist income, due to the degradation of the coastal and marine environment. "For a region like the Mediterranean, where tourism is an important economic sector, this can be catastrophic," he said.
Another study linking the global solid waste generation, population density and economic situation of 192 coastal countries estimates that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic waste enter the marine environment each year.
The whole picture of Cyprus
A lot of garbage was collected from the shores of the island, dominated by plastic (86.3%). This is followed by waste paper and cardboard (3.8%), metals (3.4%), glass (1.9%), sanitary ware (1%), treated wood (1%), medical waste (0.5%), other materials (2%). As an additional category, personal protective items for Covid-19 were added, which account for 0.1%.
Single-use plastics, including cigarette butts, make up the largest proportion of plastic items found on Cypriot beaches, supporting the need to take measures to address the inappropriate release of these items into the environment. Plastic fragments from unrecognizable sources formed a significant part of the waste collected during this study.
