July 05, 2018 - The results of the first analyses conducted within the IPA Interreg Project “Welcome” showed a fairly high degree of pollution at beaches. This analysis includes solid waste, of which the largest share is the plastic waste – more than 80%!
The waste was collected on three beaches in Montenegro: Igalo, Budva and Ulcinj and classified in eight classification groups: plastics, rubber, textiles, paper, processed wood, metal, glass/ceramics and unidentified waste. The waste that was present in the highest amount were sponges, plastic bottle caps, ear cuffs, cigarette leftovers, chemical caps, bottles of less than 0.5 liters, glass bottles, plastic cups, straws and similar.
In Ulcinj, 42.64 kilograms of waste were collected, in Budva 8.22 kilograms and in Herceg Novi as many as 2.800 pieces of thrash with the total weight of 52.22 kilograms, of which 88.9% was plastic.
The first field activities were organized this spring and the very beach cleaning was organized by the Institute of Marine Biology in cooperation with the Public Enterprise for the Management of the Maritime Good. The Institute of Marine Biology works under the shield of the University of Montenegro and within the framework of the cross-border cooperation programme for Italy, Albania, and Montenegro.
“Special activities will be oriented towards the protection of sand dunes of certain parts of the “Velika Plaža“ in Ulcinj from erosion. This conservation of the beach will be possible through the reuse of collected natural wood, which will be built into “protective walls” in order to prevent coastal erosion, preserve the quality of beaches and attractiveness of the area," representatives of the Institute noted.
The activities of collection and categorization of waste on the beaches of the Montenegrin coast will be continued during the next one-year period, after which the comparative analysis will presented, as well as the main sources and the plan for solving the pollution.
