Plastics in the Danube

A study on Plastics in the Danube that is unique in Europe reveals that about 40 tonnes of plastic are carried away from Austria along the River Danube each year

With a 10-point action programme I am campaigning for clean water at the European and the national level. We need harmonised Europe-wide measurement standards and limit values, and we need to carry on with measurement programmes at selected rivers", says Andrä Rupprechter, the Austrian Environment Minister.

Together with the plastics industry, the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management has launched a Zero Pellets Loss Initiative. Technological improvements are planned with the aim to further reduce environmental pressures.

The study included an investigation into the occurrence of small plastic particles in the Danube, as well as collecting information about potential pathways and an assessment of ecosystem impacts. The work was carried out under the leadership of the Environment Agency Austria, in cooperation with the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and ViaDonau, on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the Austrian federal states Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Vienna.

"Together with our partners, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences and ViaDonau, we have carried out a pioneering project: examining a river via the cross and depth profile is unique in Europe", says Dr Karl Kienzl, Deputy Managing Director of the Environment Agency Austria. "Rivers are considered to be major pathways of marine ‘plastic islands'. Unfortunately, with our lifestyle in Austria, we are contributors as well. The results show that a large part of plastic found in the Danube comes from sources that cannot be clearly allocated."

Source:umweltbundesamt

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