Latvia's seaside territories are becoming increasingly polluted, according to monitoring conducted by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) as part of its My Sea initiative, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Representatives of the foundation informed at a press conference Friday that this year, participants of the monitoring found an average of 254 pieces of trash on every 100 meters of the Baltic seacoast, which is a new record.
By comparison, similar monitoring in 2018 found 248 pieces of trash per 100 meters. Nine years ago, when the My Sea campaign was started, there were just 180 pieces of trash per 100 meters of Latvia's seaside.
According to the monitoring data, various unidentifiable pieces of plastic are the greatest pollutants making up 19 percent of all the waste found on Latvia's beaches. Coal waste makes up 16 percent, followed by plastic bags and paper, as well as cigarette butts and filters.
A new type of waste like face masks has appeared on the seaside amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic this year, FEE representatives said.
The FEE organized the My Sea expedition for the ninth year to survey pollution in 42 coastal areas in line with the UN Environment Program's guidelines, the foundation said.