Many human activities contribute to marine litter

Human activities affecting marine litter are distributed widely across the North-East Atlantic, but the intensity of activities and of the pressures they impose on the marine environment vary greatly between OSPAR Regions and sub-divisions. The regional summary below gives a high-level description of the intensity and trends of selected activities across the OSPAR Regions as prepared for the thematic assessment on Human Activities.

Arctic Waters (Region I)

Fishing occurs across the Arctic Waters Region, although pressure from bottom trawling is lower than in most other OSPAR Regions. Major oil and gas extraction occurs in the Norwegian Sea. Finfish aquaculture is important, notably in Norway, with expansion planned for future years, including into offshore environments. Increased shipping and oil and gas activity, for example in the Barents Sea, may bring further pressures in the coming decade. A growth in tourism activity may increase marine litter pressure.

Greater North Sea (Region II)

The Greater North Sea is an area of intense activity, influenced by major population centres, intensive agricultural land use, coastal development, and tourism and recreation activity, particularly in southern areas. The presence of major ports in the area results in high pressure from shipping, and fishing takes place across the Region, with mobile bottom trawls deployed over 73% of the ICES ecoregion in 2018. Salmon aquaculture is a significant industry on the Norwegian coast.

Oil and gas production is widespread in the Northern North Sea, and gas production in the Southern North Sea. In the past decade, offshore wind developments have increased substantially in the Southern North Sea and at a lower rate in the Skagerrak and Kattegat, and major expansion of offshore wind energy will be a key issue for the Region in the coming decade.

Celtic Seas (Region III)

Pressures associated with fishing, shipping, coastal development, tourism and recreation, and agriculture are widespread in the Celtic Seas. Mobile bottom trawls were deployed over almost 45% of the ICES ecoregion in 2018. Finfish and/or shellfish aquaculture is important in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. Energy production (fossil fuel and renewable energy) takes place in the Region, and significant future expansion of offshore wind energy is projected, notably in the Irish Sea.

Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast (Region IV)

Fishing, shipping, tourism and recreation, land-based industry, and agriculture are the source of the most important pressures. Mobile bottom trawls were deployed over 19% of the ICES ecoregion in 2018.  Important shipping routes exist across the Bay of Biscay and off the western Iberian Coast. Shellfish aquaculture takes place in Spain and France.

Wider Atlantic (Region V)

The only human settlements within the Wider Atlantic Region are in the Azores, so pressures from human activities are generally low. Nevertheless, some OSPAR threatened or declining species remain vulnerable to fisheries pressure, even though fishery catches in this Region are relatively small. There is increasing interest in exploring options for harvesting mesopelagic fish and plankton. Littering from shipping, or introduced from outside the Region, also occurs.

A great number of land-based and sea-based human activities introduce litter into the marine environment. The main direct sea-based sources identified are fishing, aquaculture, shipping, and recreation. In addition, marine litter also originates from offshore infrastructure (for example, oil and gas installations and offshore wind-turbines). The major direct and indirect land-based sources of marine litter include, for example, poor waste management practices, general littering, untreated sewage, run-off and storm water discharges, sewage sludge applied to soils, land-based industry / construction, tourism / recreation, inland shipping and agriculture. Rivers act as pathways of marine litter, carrying litter from inland to the marine environment. A high proportion (approximately 95% of items found on beaches) of marine litter found in the OSPAR Maritime Area is made from plastic, and so this assessment also considers plastic production and consumption trends as a key factor in understanding marine litter in the North-East Atlantic. Overall, the environmental awareness and behaviour of citizens, but also of industry, is a key consideration. The following sections provide a short summary of the trends in each of these activities over the last 10 years in the OSPAR Maritime Area (since the QSR 2010) and look ahead to 2030. The information below is mostly taken from the OSPAR QSR feeder reports.

Plastics production and consumption

Plastics production and consumption patterns and trends have a direct influence on quantities of plastics found in the marine environment. Production, both in Europe and globally, has increased substantially since 2010, as has the demand for plastics from converters (manufacturers of plastic products).

Annual per capita plastic consumption has reached 100 kg in Western Europe and collected post-consumer plastic waste rose substantially between 2006 and 2018. The European Commission in 2018 referred to an estimate of 0,15 – 0,5 million tonnes of plastic waste entering EU seas in 2015, within a global estimate of 4,8 – 12,7 million tonnes. Over time, plastic litter degrades to microplastics, typically defined as 'synthetic water-insoluble polymers of 5 mm or less in any dimension', but the time scale may be very long. Reviews by the European Environment Agency and European Commission have concluded that it is very likely that plastic consumption and waste issues will intensify in the future, and that global annual plastics production is expected to reach up to 1,2 billion tonnes by 2050.

Transport-shipping and transport-land

Transport can contribute to litter in the environment, through items such as lost goods or plastic wrappings torn from products (also in harbours) as well as shipping containers lost at sea.

Between 2018 and 2020, nearly 95% of items found in beach litter monitoring were plastics, and items from sea-based sources (maritime activities covering both fishing and shipping) represented 21% of all litter items observed, or 36 items/100 m (OSPAR Beach Litter Assessment 2021). Litter from maritime activities accounted for varying levels of the litter observed across the different OSPAR Regions, with 51 items/100 m in Region IV, between 29 and 40 items/100 m in Regions I, II and III, and just 1 item/100 m in Region V.

OSPAR Regions II, III and IV (and parts of Regions I and V) continue to have a high density of shipping. The OSPAR Maritime Area includes three of the twenty leading container ports globally, and ten of the twenty largest ports in Europe, with a particular concentration in the Southern North Sea. While global shipping is projected to expand in future years, the extent to which volumes of shipping in OSPAR waters will change remains uncertain ( Shipping Feeder Report ).

Industrial uses, waste treatment/disposal and urban uses

Waste treatment / disposal and urban uses are both driven by society's need for industrial processes and materials. All these activities contribute to the introduction of litter into the marine environment.

Land-based waste management & industry

Plastics continue to leak from land-based sources into the North-East Atlantic. Despite the long-established history of waste management in the region, there are still inefficiencies or limitations in waste management practices and planning (for commercial, industrial, and residential settings). The scale of this issue varies both within and between the countries of interest, as do the management approaches and chains of responsibility (ref action briefing note).

Although there are no specific estimates of the amounts of marine litter that result from land-based industry and activity, it can be assumed that by addressing every step of the life cycle – reduced production, improved design, increased re-use and improved waste collection and management — waste streams and microplastics will be prevented from finding their way to the sea either via water courses or on the wind.

Waste water treatment (sewage and storm water discharges)

Waste water can contain microplastics which have resulted from toiletries or cosmetics, or from the abrasion of synthetic textiles during washing (producing microfibres). Quantities of sanitary products were observed in the OSPAR Beach Litter Indicator Assessment (2021). Cotton buds were observed as being one of the top 15 litter types recorded across all OSPAR beaches, and were in the top ten most collected items on 44% of OSPAR beaches. This may indicate that the waste water treatment plants are undersized or in disrepair.

Waste water treatment is ubiquitous in the OSPAR signatory countries, with over 95% of households connected to treatment facilities in western Europe and more than 23 600 urban waste water treatment plants covered by the EU’s Urban Waste Water Treatment (Council Directive 91/271/EEC - UWWT) Directive (). The distribution of treatment plants across Europe broadly follows that of the human population. The UWWT Directive has greatly improved the quality of urban waste water. However, increasing storm surges mean that treatment plants are more regularly bypassed, allowing raw effluent, as well as items which end up as marine litter, to enter water bodies, with the result that the size of plants has to be increased. Uncontrolled and unmanaged stormwater run-off remains an issue.

Extraction of oil & gas and Extraction of minerals

A limited number of offshore chemicals contain plastic or microplastic substances which are used and discharged during other offshore operations. Given the growing concerns related to marine litter, including plastics and microplastics, it is considered relevant to monitor the amount of plastic or microplastic substances contained in offshore chemicals discharged by the offshore oil and gas industry in the OSPAR Maritime Area, and the extent to which the discharges may be contributing to the wider marine litter issue.

Similarly, man-made infrastructures such as pipelines, cables and structures placed on the seabed are normally protected for a number of reasons, including protection from trawl boards, scour protection and pipeline / cable crossings, as foundation support, and to prevent buoyancy and provide stabilisation. Types of protection include the placement of sand, rock or gravel, concrete mattresses and sand or grout bags. Sand or grout bags are typically contained in polypropylene sacks. Concrete mattresses are often held together by polypropylene ropes. Due to the life span of the protection material, the plastic materials contained in these materials deteriorate and eventually disintegrate into the marine environment.

Operational Objectives S4.O6 and S4.O5 have been agreed in order to develop measures on these issues.

The production of hydrocarbons decreased by 28% from 2009 to 2019 (see assessment of impacts of oil and gas industry ). This decline was largely due to increasing cessation of production and consequent decommissioning after the drop in the oil price in 2014. Pressure from offshore oil and gas activities is greatest in the Greater North Sea, followed by Arctic Waters and the Celtic Seas. In the other OSPAR Regions, the number of installations is low. The declining trend in production is expected to continue, and as older installations reach their end-of-life, it is anticipated that a number of installations will be decommissioned in the coming decade.

Tourism and leisure activities

Tourism and leisure activities, such as days on the beach when rubbish is left behind, contribute to marine litter.

The OSPAR Beach Litter Indicator Assessment (2021) considers the quantities of single-use plastics (SUP) on OSPAR beaches which could be attributed to high numbers of visitors to an area and therefore linked to tourism and recreation. Across all OSPAR beaches monitored, the median number of SUP items was 45 items/100 m, accounting for 26% of items encountered. Looking at the regional distribution of this usage group, OSPAR Region IV appears to be the most affected by the presence of SUP. Regions II and III are less affected and Regions I and V present the lowest values.

The recreation and tourism sectors are important economic activities for all OSPAR Contracting Parties (see: OSPAR Feeder Report 2021 – Recreation and Tourism in the North-East Atlantic ). Recreation and tourism have grown steadily over the past 10 years in the OSPAR Maritime Area, both inland and on the coast. This growth was anticipated to continue until 2030, but this is now less certain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OSPAR Regions II (47%) and IV (27%) are those with the highest share of tourist arrivals, followed by Regions III (20%), I (6%) and V (>1%). All Regions show a higher concentration of tourist and recreation activities along their coasts than inland. In terms of type of tourism and recreation, great differences can be observed. For instance, recreational boating is highly popular in the Nordic countries, whereas the cruise industry has boomed in Portugal, Norway, and Iceland.

Marine aquaculture and agriculture

The relative intensity of aquaculture (mostly finfish and shellfish) in Regions I and II is considered high, whereas in Regions III and IV it is considered medium, and in Region V low (see: OSPAR Feeder Report 2021 - Aquaculture ). In all five OSPAR Regions aquaculture activities have either remained the same (Regions III and V) or increased (Regions I, II, IV) since 2010, and are expected to continue increasing in all OSPAR Regions except Region V, where it is expected to stay the same. There are prospects for aquaculture in new offshore environments and involving new species (e.g., seaweed). 

Plastics used in agriculture should be collected after usage; they have the potential to leach either as microplastics or macroplastics and impact the marine environment. There are no specific data to show the quantities of litter coming from agricultural activities in the OSPAR Maritime Area. However, ‘fertiliser and animal feed bags’ are included as a litter item in the OSPAR list.

Agriculture is the largest land-use in OSPAR countries, occupying approximately 110 million hectares of land in total (2016). Farming intensity is low in Regions I and V, medium in Regions III and IV, and high in Region II (see: OSPAR Feeder Report 2021 - Agriculture ). Overall, there has been little change in farming as a pressure across all OSPAR Regions since 2010, and the forecast trend to 2030 shows no significant changes.

Fish and shellfish harvesting (professional, recreational)

OSPAR's Intermediate Assessment (IA) 2017 identified litter from fishing as one of the main sources of litter in the North-East Atlantic and this is confirmed by OSPAR's latest assessments on beach and seafloor litter. Litter from fishing can include trawl nets, gill nets, traps, cages and pots, ropes and other fishing gear such as dolly ropes. In the , “maritime-related items”, which includes fishing and aquaculture-related litter as well as strings and cords (which can come from different sources but are often mainly related to fishing), has a median value of 36 litter items/100 m across all OSPAR beaches in the OSPAR Maritime Area. Of the 15 top beach litter types, four belong to the maritime-related group. The regional distribution is fairly homogeneous (between 29 and 51 litter items/100 m) excluding Region V, which records very low quantities of maritime- related items (1 item/100 m). Also, the Composition and Spatial Distribution of Litter on the seafloor  shows that fishing-related items are most commonly found in Regions II, III and IV.

There are substantial fisheries operating in all OSPAR Regions (see: OSPAR Feeder Report 2021 - Fisheries ). In Region I total capture production has fallen since 2010, whereas in Regions II and III it has increased. There are no observed changes in capture production for Regions IV and V since 2010. The future of fishing activity in the North-East Atlantic is uncertain and largely dependent on a number of differing factors such as: climate change and resulting stock availability; the continuation of effective fisheries management measures; and the overall economic performance of the sector in relation to ageing vessels, uptake of new entrants to the sector, competition with recreational fisheries and restrictions due to energy production or conservation objectives.

Renewable energy generation (wind, wave and tidal power), including infrastructure

There are limited data to help understand the extent to which renewable offshore infrastructure contributes to marine litter in the North-East Atlantic, but, in line with development goals, offshore wind turbines also play an increasing role. Currently, around 75% of global offshore wind energy capacity is installed in European seas, notably in OSPAR Regions II and III. The scale of offshore wind installation in the OSPAR Maritime Area is expected to increase greatly in the next decade and beyond, primarily in Regions II and III. The current scale of tidal and wave energy installations is small. Nevertheless, some increase in the next decade can be expected.