EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Marine Litter Growing evidence and awareness of the problems associated with marine litter has led to legislative and citizen initiatives. Pollution from litter, including plastic and microplastics, are of concern for the ecology of marine flora and fauna (Chapter 8, The Marine Environment). Reducing marine litter is a key action under several national and international commitments including the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and UN SDG 14: Life Below Water. Irish marine litter arises from littering, mismanaged waste or accidental spillage and through abrasion, wear and fragmentation. It can come from land-based and maritime human activities as well as transboundary sources. Litter from land-based sources can be carried to the marine environment by rivers, streams, drains, sewage and other wastewater outflows. Beach litter data is available from Ireland’s OSPAR beach litter surveys which are used to monitor national trends as part of the MSFD. By the end of 2018, there was a 20 per cent decrease (from 61 to 49 items) in the median number of beach litter items found on the selected Irish beaches in the OSPAR surveys (DHPLG, 2020). The overwhelming bulk of beach litter found in these surveys is plastic. Ireland’s MSFD assessment report from 2020 highlights that plastic string and cord (diameter less than 1cm) and plastic/polystyrene pieces (0-2.5cm) makes up 37.5 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively of all waste found. These are part of the non-single-use plastic items found as beach litter that includes larger lost or discarded re-usable items such as fishing or aquaculture gear, strings, plastic fragments, discarded clothing etc. Litter is not just a beach issue. Seabed litter was reported on average in 62 per cent of seabed survey trawls in Irish waters between 2012-2018 (excluding 2015) (DHPLG, 2020). The percentage of single-use plastic items in the total amount of beach litter identified in Irish OSPAR beach litter surveys 2013-2018 was 25.79 per cent. The Single- use Plastics Directive (2019/904) focuses on reducing the consumption of single-use plastic products, given their prevalence in marine litter. Additional national targets will be set in relation to the median number of litter items found in beach litter surveys and single-use plastic items, which are to be prohibited from being placed on the market from 2021 by the Single-use Plastics Directive (DHPLG, 2020). Non-governmental organisations are actively involved in beach clean-ups and litter surveys. The #2minutebeachcleanup is an An Taisce Clean Coasts initiative. Clean Coasts groups adopt stretches of Irish coastline and welcome volunteers to take part in beach clean-ups and other environmental and educational activities. In a 2019 survey, another NGO, Coastwatch, found that the amount of plastic bottle and aluminium can litter had halved compared with the previous year, but an increase in polystyrene and wet wipes was observed; wet wipes are associated with sewage discharges (O’Sullivan, 2020). 234