Med shellfish lovers eat 11k pieces of plastic a year

MEMORIES of picking apart a juicy, sweet langoustine, watching the sun go down over the Med, are becoming more distant as the Covid travel restrictions continue.

However, that may not be a bad thing for your general health, according to MEP Deirdre Clune.

According to Ms Clune, people who eat Mediterranean shellfish are consuming over 11,000 pieces of plastic each year. She said that a recent EU report showed its fishing fleets could lose hundreds of millions in revenue because of pollution. Under an EU directive, single-use plastics are set to be banned from July 3 this year. The ban will apply to items such as cotton bud sticks, plastic cutlery and straws. It will also cover food and drink containers made of expanded polystyrene and products made of oxo-degradable plastic.

Last month, the European Parliament said more was needed and called on the

EU Commission to take drastic action. It urged phasing out expanded polystyrene packages and improving marine waste collection and recycling channels.

Ms Clune said that there must be a collective approach to keeping seawater safe and clean.

She said that reducing marine litter in oceans and beaches was vital to protect marine life and also to ensure that fish, and as a result the food chain, are not further contaminated by plastics.

‘It is not enough to simply clean up our waste, we must tackle this at source,’ she said. ‘A circular economy approach focused on recycling and the reuse of materials and products is the best solution.’

According to the EU report, only 1% of the plastic in the ocean is found on the surface – most ends up in the deep-sea.

Every day, 730 tonnes of waste are dumped directly into the Mediterranean and every year a further 11,200 tonnes of plastics find their way into the region.