Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Reduction of Marine Litter

Status: Active
Operational Plan: 2021
Project Duration: 30 months
Start date: November 15, 2021

Marine litter is a growing problem that negatively affects economies, threatens ecosystems, and poses a potential risk to human health. It is estimated that 80% of marine litter originates from land-based sources, often due to the improper disposal of items or uncollected waste that becomes litter and travels through watersheds to the oceans. Previous work included the development of guidance and engagement tools to reduce marine litter in inland communities. Building on this past work, the current project aims to build public awareness about marine litter, deploy litter capture devices, collect comparable data across the three countries. This project will reduce land-based marine litter, including single-use plastic products and packaging, in communities located inland along waterways and river systems in North America.

To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.