A Marine and Beach Clean-Ups reporting facility has been launched by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA).
It explained that this web-based delivery service will enable coordinated data gathering related to waste collected through organised marine and beach clean-ups around the Maltese islands.
This data will help the Environment and Resources Authority in their scientific evaluations.
The ERA said that this service is easily accessible to all clean-up organisers via the new ERA website – era.org.mt. Anyone organising a clean-up is urged to fill in this form. [1]
The launch of this new service comes spot on with the timing of the Saving Our Blue Campaign’s various clean-up initiatives for summer 2020, during which large amounts of cigarette butts and microplastics are being collected from local beaches. Examples include clean-ups held at Rinella Bay, Golden bay, Ramla Bay in Gozo and Ghajn Tuffieha Bay.
ERA together with the Ministry for the Environment, Climate change and Planning, said that they are engaging the public through the Saving Our Blue Campaign to increase the fight against marine litter and the negative impacts of using single-use plastics.
It said that the campaign seeks to address these challenges by educating and engaging citizens, collaborating with NGOs and the private sector and encouraging a unified call to action that can support national movements to influence change.
For more information please follow the Saving Our Blue Campaign on Facebook and Instagram.
Photo by Alain Salvary