On Italian beaches, there are an average of 77 cigarette butts every 100 meters. This constant presence, along with other abandoned waste, poses a threat to the sea, beaches, and biodiversity.

Confirmation comes from new data from Legambiente's Beach Litter survey. According to the report, in 12 years of monitoring, from 2014 to 2026, Legambiente collected and catalogued a total of 50,053 cigarette butts. This equates to an average of 77 cigarette butts per 100 linear meters of beach. These figures place cigarette butts second among the most frequently found materials on beaches, behind plastic fragments, which ranked first, with 61,785 collected.

Furthermore, cigarette butts constitute 87% of the 57,099 items of "smoking waste" (which also include lighters, cigarette packets, or tobacco or cigarette paper boxes) found in recent years during monitoring.

A silent emergency born of a serious act of incivility and the lack of effective policies and controls, despite the fact that in Italy the Environmental Annex to the 2014 Stability Law (Law 221/2015) provides for fines of 30 to 300 euros for those who abandon cigarette butts on the ground, in water, or in drains.

Added to this worrying picture from Legambiente's Beach Litter survey is the total amount of waste of all types (including cigarette butts) collected and monitored over 12 years across 653 transects, amounting to 512,934 items, 80% of which is plastic. This equates to an average of 785 items of waste per 100 linear meters.

For this reason, Legambiente is calling everyone to action and a greater sense of collective responsibility with the 36th edition of "Clean Beaches and Seabeds," kicking off April 10, 11, and 12. The campaign's goal is to expose coastal neglect and abandonment, highlight waste sorting and sustainable waste management, and promote the protection of the marine ecosystem.

(Unioneonline)

© Riproduzione riservata