Understanding the reality of maritime plastic pollution

Raul Garcia Hemonnet

Almost a year ago, on December 8, the cargo ship 'Toconao' lost 6 containers 80 kilometres off the coastal town of Viana do Castelo (Portugal). One of these containers contained plastic pellets that reached several municipalities in Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and Euskadi.

This serious environmental event gave rise to the idea of ​​holding the 'Second Multidisciplinary Round Table: The Environmental Impact of Pellets on the Galician Coast' on the Móstoles campus on 8 November.

The accident involving the ship 'Toconao' allowed teachers Nuria Navarro Andres, María del Mar Muñoz, Inmaculada Concepción Suárez and Silvia Martín to approach the conference from the perspective of environmental impact and legal responsibilities.

The objective was “to tackle pollution in an interdisciplinary way”, explains Nuria Navarro, a professor in the area of ​​Microbiology and a member of the organising committee. To do so, they have relied on experts from different Spanish universities (including the URJC) and research centres, including Pilar Zorzo Gallego, Researcher at the Centre for Port and Coast Studies of CEDEX and President of the Spanish Association of Marine Litter; and Francisco Javier Sanz Larruga, Professor at the University of A Coruña, and expert in Coastal Law.

The main conclusions drawn from the presentations and the subsequent debate, according to Nuria Navarro, were “that we must avoid land-based pollution, which accounts for 80% of the waste that reaches the sea.” To achieve this, from a legal point of view it was pointed out that a lot of progress would be made by complying with existing regulations and options such as greater cooperation between the Government, Communities and Town Councils, as well as increasing and toughening sanctions, were considered.

Furthermore, from the point of view of what each citizen can do, the need to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic was recalled, "it is always better to avoid and prevent than to later have to clean or restore"

According to Nuria Navarro, “the students were shocked to learn about the origin of marine litter and the fact that 22 tons of waste reach the sea every minute. The students were unaware of much of the problem. No beach in Spain, and probably in the world, is free of pollution.”

With events such as this one, held at ESCET, it has been possible to raise greater awareness about marine pollution, its origins and possible solutions.