Beach Waste Analysis in Morocco: 85% Plastic
In 2018, Zero Zbel conducted scientific audits on 26 Moroccan beaches (Mediterranean and Atlantic) with 40 volunteers, collecting 36,280 waste items and identifying 422 commercial brands. 85% of waste was plastic.
Beaches audited
26
Waste collected
36 280
Plastic
85%
Brands identified
422
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Results of the National Beach Audit (2018 Campaign)
On the occasion of September 15, World Beach Cleanup Day, the Zero Zbel association publishes the results of an unprecedented analysis of solid waste found on Moroccan beaches.
From March to August 2018, 40 volunteers conducted waste audits on 26 beaches along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. For representativeness, these audits were carried out both outside and during the summer season, on beaches ranging from Boujdour in the south to Saïdia in the north. This campaign was conducted with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Using a methodology defined by the international Break Free From Plastic movement, the audits characterized waste as follows: on each beach, a 400m² zone is delimited. Within this zone, waste items larger than 5mm are collected, sorted into roughly twenty categories, then counted. An estimate of micro-waste is also carried out.
Key Pollution Figures
This exercise collected a total of 36,280 waste items, all of which were characterized.
Our primary goal is not to clean beaches, but to acquire an in-depth understanding of the waste polluting our coasts, in order to identify upstream solutions. — Mamoun Ghallab, President of Zero Zbel
The results reveal an alarming situation:
85% of collected waste is plastic. Plastic pollution is by far the main source of waste on Moroccan coasts.
The origin is highly concentrated: just 5 product families account for 56% of collected waste.
Most of this waste comes from products marketed by a handful of large industrial companies. 3 out of 4 macro-waste items (bottles, caps, packaging...) were clearly identified as belonging to a specific brand (among 422 brands recorded).
A Call for Responsibility
This data underscores that citizen cleanup action, while commendable, is insufficient. Solutions must intervene at all levels of the value chain: from regulation to industrial production practices (reducing single-use packaging), through to the overall waste management system.
Media coverage
Rapport complet — Analyse des déchets sur les plages (2019)
Download associated document
Digital Archive preserved by Web Success
This article was originally published by the Zero Zbel association. As part of our CSR commitment and our policy of digital sobriety and eco-responsible web design, the web agency Web Success has chosen to host and preserve this crucial environmental data for Morocco so that it remains accessible to all researchers and citizens.
To learn more about our commitments or our SEO services, visit our homepage.