Decline of marine litter on the European coasts

There was a 29% decrease in the total amount of macro-litter generated along European coasts between 2015-2021. This is according to the report "European Coastline Macro Litter Trends 2015 - 2021", a European Commission Joint Research Centre document published by the Technical Group on Marine Litter of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive - (MSFD) and contributed to by the OGS National Oceanographic Data Centre (NODC).

Since 2017, NODC has been working with the MSFD to collect, harmonise and validate marine litter data on the EMODnet platform, which is an important support for assessing the health and evolution of the seas and oceans.

The results show that the total amount of coastal macro-litter has decreased by 29 at EU level: There was around a third less litter on European coasts in 2020 - 2021 than in 2015 - 2016, based on data from 253 monitored beaches. Single-use plastic was found to have decreased by 40% between 2015 - 2016 and 2020 - 2021, while fishing-related items decreased by 20% and plastic bags by 20%.