ISWA Announces Cooperation with Brazilian Municipality to Beat Marine Litter

Mar 20, 2018 | Close dumpsites

The International Solid Waste Association – ISWA and Santos Municipal Secretary of Environment agreed to formalize an unprecedented cooperation agreement to fight marine pollution. The initiative aims to assist the city of Santos to develop best practices and prevent waste continue to pollute the sea around the city, which is home for 450,000 people and hosts the largest port in Latin America.

This follows ISWA’s international initiative which was launched in 2017 with the inauguration of the Task Force on Marine Litter, responsible for the ground breaking report which concludes that most of the marine litter originates from the land environment.

"Actions to combat marine litter should focus on the cities, where the problem comes from. Otherwise, the removal of waste will only serve as a palliative, since the source of emissions will continue to exist???, says Antonis Mavropoulos, ISWA’s President.

Through this partnership, Santos becomes the first city in Latin America to be part of the ISWA marine litter initiative and will receive assistance from international experts to diagnose the problem and identify solutions and instruments to reverse the current situation. "The city of Santos will be an important laboratory for developing protection solutions for the oceans, and at the end of the project it will serve as a reference for other cities in the world," explains Carlos Silva Filho, Vice President of ISWA.

This week, ISWA is participating in the Word Water Forum in Brasilia, where President Antonis Mavropoulos, Vice President Carlos Silva Filho and STC Vice Chair Luis will all be sharing ISWA’s findings on marine litter to a global audience. This also marks the launch of the report on marine litter in Portuguese, thanks to our National Member in Brazil, ABRELPE.

The project is intended to last 12 months and will start with a workshop to present and discuss the current situation, with a view to preparing proposals to reduce waste generation, raise awareness among citizens, engage industry and trade, and prevent waste from reaching beaches. Keep your eyes out for more developments on this in the coming year.

For further information, visit, marinelitter.iswa.org 
 

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