Nobody wants to see plastic littering their favourite Mediterranean beach. But the visual impact of plastic pollution is just the tip of a large and deadly iceberg.

As much as half a million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the Mediterranean Sea each year – and can remain there for decades or even centuries. Less visible but even more insidious are the tiny particles known as microplastics, which reach record concentrations in the Mediterranean with
1.25 million fragments per square kilometre.

Few animals escape the impacts of plastic pollution. From getting trapped in abandoned fishing nets and packaging to ingesting plastic bags and cigarette ends, the consequences for marine mammals, seabirds, turtles, fish and invertebrates are often fatal. Meanwhile, microplastics and the toxic contaminants that attach to them are accumulating within marine food chains and affecting a large range of marine species with worrying health consequences for them and for people who eat seafood.

Every year, 0.57 million tonnes of plastic enters Mediterranean waters - the equivalent of dumping 33,800 plastic bottles into the sea every minute. Plastic pollution will keep growing, with plastic waste generation in the region expected to quadruple by 2050. WWF's new report shows that Mediterranean countries’ comprehensive failure to manage their plastic waste is significantly contributing to record-levels of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and costing the regional economy hundreds of millions of euros each year.