As part of the Croatian Presidency of the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, a conference on plastic and microplastic pollution of water bodies and the sea was held in Zagreb on 29 November 2023. The conference was attended by Croatian experts as well as experts from Montenegro, Italy, Slovenia, the European Environment Agency and representatives of various ministries, environmental protection institutions, oceanography and fisheries, agriculture and scientific institutions.
The global problem of plastic and microplastic pollution was presented in extremely interesting presentations, which provided an overview of the pollution problem through the lens of the legal framework and accompanying activities at EU level, as well as expert analyses of the microplastic problem in the context of integrated environmental and water resource management.
The Director of the Directorate for Water Management and Marine Protection at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Elizabeta Kos, presented in detail the existing legal framework in the Republic of Croatia and the ongoing activities related to the protection of the seas and the marine environment from marine litter.
The Director of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute, Mario Šiljeg, presented the Institute’s activities in the field of systematic monitoring of microplastics in the aquatic environment. He gave a detailed overview of the complexity and diversity of the composition of plastics and microplastics in the environment, the occurrence of different forms and surface properties of plastics, biotic and abiotic factors that influence the degradation of plastics, and the sources of plastic input into the environment. He emphasised that successful monitoring requires understanding the presence and representation of plastics, assessing the impact on the environment, identifying trends at an early stage and contributing to the development of effective water management through risk assessment.
Dr Draženka Stipaničev, Head of the Main Water Laboratory at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Water Institute, also took part in the panel discussion. The discussion examined the problem of microplastics in the environment from the point of view of the pressure these pollutants exert on biodiversity, the accumulation of plastics in the food chain and the harmful effects on marine habitats and species. The potential of fishing and diving club activities in reducing marine litter was also emphasised. The results of previous ecotoxicological and toxicological studies conducted on various human tissues and blood were also presented.
By bringing together a large number of different stakeholders and addressing the global, pervasive problem of plastic and microplastics in our environment, this conference, which was exceptionally well attended, represents an important step in the inter-institutional and interdisciplinary approach to finding solutions to the many challenges facing Mediterranean countries.
