Plastic cups abandonet in Arenal d'en Castell

This May in Diari Menorca the presence of plastic cups on the beach of Arenal d'en Castell has been reported - enlace.  

This winter we have made several outings with schools and social entities to beaches all over the island, to analyse (and remove) the plastic waste present on the coast and thus be able to build a database and images that help us to better understand plastic pollution on the island. 

We visited the beach of Arenal d'en Castell on two occasions and were surprised by the number (more than 50 units) of reusable plastic cups (such as those that have now been reported) that were on the beach. Many had already begun to fragment into smaller parts. 

Can these glasses be outside the establishments?

The answer is NO. The cups can only be used for consumption outside the premises if they are considered packaging and, therefore, can be deposited in the yellow container or are compostable with the UNE EN 13432. These glasses do not meet either of these two conditions and we were able to verify this. 

What impact do they generate if they are abandoned in the environment?

To begin with, a visual impact that, as it says in the photodenuncua, spoils the wonderful landscape. On the other hand, these cups are usually made of dense plastics (mostly polypropylene) and are larger than the typical coffee cup. Under conditions of high insolation, strong winds, sea movement, etc., the material breaks down and erodes into smaller and smaller fragments. Each cup can contain between 30 and 50 grams of plastic, so you can imagine the amount of microplastics and nanoplastics that are released into the environment per cup. 

We offer advice to companies in Arenal d'en Castell

From the Menorca Plastic Free Alliance we offer free advice for companies through Plastic Free Balearics. We encourage companies in Arenal d'en Castell to contact us if they have any doubts regarding the regulations and/or if they wish to be certified to improve their environmental performance.