9 most plastic polluting Mediterranean countries: These are the 9 Mediterranean countries that throw most of the plastic waste into the sea:

•         A WWF study reports that there are 600,000 tonnes of plastic waste in the Mediterranean and stresses that 9 countries are primarily responsible.
•         Environmental NGOs criticize the fact that a quarter of the garbage produced around the world ends in nature.
•         It ensures that the 22 Mediterranean coastal countries generate 24 million plastic waste, with France being the main product with 4.5 million tonnes in 2016.
•         79% of these plastic wastes come from coastal activities, 12% come from rivers and 9% from fishing, aquaculture and maritime transport.

The 22 countries in the Mediterranean region produced about 24 million tons of plastic waste, according to a new study on the Mediterranean's plastic materials published by WWF on June 7, 2019. The international NGO estimates that a quarter of the waste plastic in the world come to nature every year, including 600,000 tons in the Mediterranean Sea.

Once released into the sea, this plastic waste can damage marine ecosystems. The smallest, called microplastics (plastic particles whose diameter is less than 5 mm) can also be ingested by fish and can be found in our dishes.

9 most plastic polluting Mediterranean countries

France is the Mediterranean country producing the most plastic waste with 4.5 million tonnes in 2016, which translates to about 66 kilograms per person. Some of these plastic wastes are not recycled, incinerated, buried and thrown into the Mediterranean.

In detail, this discarded plastic waste mainly comes from coastal activities, making it 79% of cases through inefficient waste management and the impact of tourism. Meanwhile, plastic pollution from rivers represents 12% of all maritime activities, such as fisheries, aquaculture and transport, 9%.

Unlike the oceans, 80% of the Mediterranean's plastic pollution returns to the coast in about 10 years, leading to the accumulation of plastic waste on beaches and ribbons.

"Not only is it environmental and economic, because this pollution is endangering many jobs and resources, so it is imperative that the Mediterranean countries take ambitious measures to put an end to this catastrophe. specifically by adopting ambitious measures with the Anti-Dumping Act that is currently de-activated, "said Isabelle Autissier, president of WWF France, in a press release.

Thanks to 'more efficient' collection systems, France manages to collect a large part of its plastic waste and therefore to limit its dumping to the environment. In fact, France is not the Mediterranean country that throws more plastic waste into the sea.

For its report, WWF focused on 22 Mediterranean countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, Spain, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Israel, Slovenia, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

Of the 22, these are the 9 Mediterranean countries that are throwing larger quantities of plastic waste into the sea, commanded by a volume of less or higher tonnes of plastic waste discharged into the sea and accompanied by data on total waste plastic that each country produces.