OSPAR beach litter monitoring in the Netherlands : update 2021

Marine litter, in particular the accumulation of plastic litter in the marine environment causing socio-economic and ecological harm, has been identified as a major global environmental problem. Due to ingestion and entanglement it is most likely harmful for many marine species. Qualitative and quantitative information about marine litter in the Dutch North Sea and coastline is required for setting up Dutch, litter reduction measures for OSPAR and MSFD, and to assess the effectiveness of these programmes of measures.