Marine litter is a major global environmental concern and highly relevant in the political agendas and environmental policy frameworks. A large amount of plastics enters the ocean every year from land-based sources (considered the major contributor to marine litter), causing negative impacts to the marine environment and loss of ecosystem services. Global input of plastics via rivers, connecting inland generated waste to the marine environment, has been estimated as a major contributor. However, field data are very scarce and lacking temporal resolution. This is a key issue that can lead to significant uncertainties in riverine litter fluxes; identification of hotspots and implementation of mitigation measures may not be appropriately targeted.
Showing the magnitude of the problem, not only in the marine environment, but also at the sources, is essential for society. Describing how anthropogenic waste can be emitted to the environment, polluting freshwaters, and eventually reaching the ocean via rivers, can help in bringing the societal and political changes needed to abate plastic pollution. The observed limitations in managing plastic waste, whether in high-income or low-income economies, calls for the implementation of mitigation strategies oriented towards reducing plastic consumption and avoiding waste generation. LitRivus plays an important role in informing our society that plastic pollution is not only an overseas issue, but also at European scale.
LitRivus can greatly advance the field of marine litter and the global plastic’s issue. The Action focused on innovative monitoring methods to study riverine litter input. Empirical data facilitate formulation of models to reduce uncertainties and improve estimations. Moreover, the use of international data and collaboration with EU and non-EU scientists provides the project a large scale. Publication of LitRivus’ results serves larger goals pursued by the scientific community, e.g. calculation of marine litter mass balances at different geographical and temporal scales. Furthermore, this the first-time comprehensive data on riverine litter inputs will be evaluated in relation to policy and decision-making frameworks, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Water Framework Directive and the EU Strategy for plastics, thus guaranteeing that science-policy knowledge transfer is achieved in order to improve plastic mitigation measures.
