Three quarters of marine litter consists of plastic. Between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of it end up in the oceans every year.

 

This plastic is a growing problem and claims the lives of tens of thousands of animals every year. This is because plastic can take several hundred to a thousand years to decompose, breaking down into smaller and smaller particles. These tiny, solid and water-insoluble particles less than 5 mm in size are called microplastics.

 

When we walk barefoot along the beach today, we often feel fine microplastic particles under our feet as well as grains of sand. These small particles are particularly dangerous in the sea, as marine animals easily mistake them for food such as plankton.

 

Source:
WWF Germany
 

Link to the website: 
https://www.wwf.de/themen-projekte/plastik/plastikmuell-im-meer