Italian beaches full of waste – Rai News

Plastic polestirolo, cotton buds and cigarette butts pollute the sea of ​​Italian

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26 May 2016 On Italian beaches are 714 waste every 100 meters. These are the figures that emerge from a survey conducted by Legambiente, which has monitored the May 47 Italian beaches where they were found 33,540 waste. On average 714 waste every 100 linear meters of beach.

This year the undisputed queen of beach waste plastics remains: 76.3% of the objects found is plastic; follow the butts of cigarettes (7.9%), waste paper (5.5%), metal (3.6%), glass / ceramics (3.4%), wood (1.3%), textile waste (1.2%) and rubber (0.8%).

Leading the top ten found beached wastes are three small but dangerous objects: in the first place there are the plastic and polystyrene pieces (22.3%), which measure less than 50 cm, which make up almost a quarter of the waste found. Second place went to the cotton swab (13.2%) for a total of 4412 pieces, a direct result of improper habit of “disposing” these waste by throwing them in the toilet and the ineffectiveness of the treatment plants. Third place for the cigarette butts (7.9%): in particular the survey of Legambiente has counted 2642, an amount equal to the contents of 132 packets.
Waste that hurt environment, wildlife, economy and tourism. sea ​​turtles, seabirds and marine mammals may become trapped in fishing nets and the professional capture tool or die by suffocation due to accidental ingestion of waste (particularly plastic bags) exchanged for food.

‘survey, which is part of the campaign “clean Beaches and seabed – clean-up the Med 2016″, sees the most critical situations on the beach Coccia di Morto in Fiumicino, near the mouth of the Tiber, where they accumulate waste coming from the river. Here Legambiente has found the highest number of waste: waste in 5500 than 100 meters.

Of the waste found, 67% is attributable to bad treatment, with the presence of well 3716 cotton swabs and several other items (deodorants for toilet and blister).
The gradual fragmentation of plastic waste abandoned in the environment triggers a Stop pollution and incalculable. The effect of waves, currents, UV radiation and other factors, the waste is destined to fragment into millions of micro particles which disperse marine and coastal ecosystems are ingested by wildlife marina.Attraverso the food chain, the plastic also reaches our tables with its harmful substances. In second place in the standings, with 13%, we find the Q-tip: This is the classic waste from treatment failure who arrive on the beaches through rivers, canals and drains.