Every minute, around 33.800 plastic bottles are dumped into the Mediterranean Sea, amounting to 1.25 million fragments per km2. According to estimations by WWF, the concentration of micro plastics could quadruple by 2050. This is a concentration much higher than in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans, and has severe implications for biodiversity and human health. These figures call for fast and effective action to reduce plastic waste.
The research project “Clean Mediterranean Sea! – CMS!” and its main outcome, a study on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, has been the result of 4 years of intense study by over 60 contributors. The analysis contained in this study reflects the legal and policy developments as they stood in 2023.
This study was a tremendous collaborate effort, bringing together various scientific disciplines including biology, economics, political science, and – mostly – law. The study focused extensively on the legal frameworks (nationally, EU wide, and internationally) and their implementation in 14 Mediterranean countries to show the progress but also the gaps in protecting one of the most important ecosystems from collapse due to plastic waste. Given its setup of many contributions by various scientists and practitioners, the study follows no uniform structure in style and analysis. Through the final editorial work, some streamlining and updating has been done in order to enhance coherence and topicality as much as possible.
This study would not exist without the passion and endurance of Hannes Tretter, the founder and director of the Vienna Forum for Democracy and Human Rights. He sailed through the Mediterranean Sea many times and witnessed the deterioration of the Sea throughout the years. With the financial support of the Hermann and Marianne Straniak Foundation, he and his research team, led by Clara Zimmermann, coordinated, contributed to and realized this research project together with colleagues from the 14 partner countries of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, he could not see the study finalized and published.
We hope that this analysis will be of interest to many who share the passion of safeguarding the Mediterranean Sea and the preservation of natural habitats, and that it will be considered by those in decision-making positions when they take action to protect this indispensable, beautiful and unique habitat. Environmental protection is as critical as ever, and this study is one piece of knowledge to be used to make the direly needed progress of keeping our oceans alive.
This final output would not have been possible without the editorial team of Helene Keclik and Shila Shorny who spent many hours reviewing and adding references and bringing this study into the polished shape it has now. Many thanks to you two! Last but not least, I would like to thank all the colleagues in Austria and abroad who made this work possible, and the Straniak Foundation for its support of the CMS! project and the overall work of the Forum.
Karin Lukas
Scientific Director, Vienna Forum for Democracy and Human Rights,
February 2026