The role of local authorities in addressing plastic pollution: two case studies in France and Italy

Plastics pollution has exceeded the safe operating space of the planetary boundaries for humanity and the adoption of a life cycle approach for the prevention of further pollution is urgently needed. This means deploying upstream interventions to reduce the production of primary plastic polymers. Plastic pollution is ubiquitous in the terrestrial and marine environments and rivers are the main pathways carrying litter to the ocean. In parallel to actions at the international and national level, local authorities can significantly limit single-use plastic pollution on their territory through the development of integrated strategies that include public procurement, exemplarity, and territorial animation. Here, we show new data gathered from monitoring macrolitter accumulated on four locations along the Durance riverbank, south-eastern France. We compare these results with those from precedent surveys carried out in the same locations five years before and with surveys of beach litter carried out on three locations on the Tuscan coast, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. All surveys were carried out using the EU Joint List of Litter Items in the framework of citizen science projects developed in collaboration with local NGOs. Results show that at all locations on Durance riverbank and on the Tuscan beaches the abundance of litter items is higher than the threshold value for marine litter (descriptor 10) identified by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES). Items made in artificial polymers were the most abundant litter items and single-use plastic (SUP, as defined by the EU single-use plastics directive) items were present in the top 10 litter items. For each survey location, we identified the environmental measures put in place by the local authorities to limit the use of single-use plastic items and highlight further possible environmental measures to reduce plastic pollution at the local level. A SWOT analysis allowed us to identify barriers and opportunities associated with implementing circular strategies at the local level to limit plastic pollution. This work confirms the opportunity to use citizen science to gather relevant data on macrolitter and to monitor the effectiveness of environmental regulations to reduce plastic pollution.