EU against marine litter – A study provides reporting and monitoring guidelines

Marine pollution from plastics and microplastics is one of the three major areas of the EU Strategy for Plastics.
In this context, two Directives have been put in place: 

- The Single Use Plastics (SUP) Directive, which sets out proportionate and tailored measures against single-use plastic;

- The Port Reception Facilities (PRF) Directive, which requires vessels to land all waste in adequate port reception facilities, including waste collected in nets during fishing operations.

The newly published ‘Study to support the implementation of obligations set out in the Single Use Plastics Directive and Port Reception Facilities Directive’ sets out to inform the implementing acts foreseen by the Directives and provides proposals for a coherent monitoring and reporting framework for :

- Fishing gear containing plastic placed on the market in the EU Member States;

- Waste fishing gear containing plastic;

- Waste collected in nets during normal fishing operations.

Besides creating a reporting format & guidelines, the study task leads organised a number of stakeholder Workshops. This enabled stakeholders to seek clarifications and provide feedback on the draft formats.

To access the full study, check out the EU bookshop.