Charting a Cleaner Future: Albania Joins Regional Push Against Marine Plastic Pollution

 

On June 17, 2025, the city of Ulcinj, Montenegro, hosted a pivotal regional conference titled "Challenges and Solutions in the Fight for a Plastic Sea," drawing environmental leaders, institutions, and organizations from across the Mediterranean. Spearheaded by the NGO Green Home and Communal Utility Ulcinj under the EU-backed MARICES project, the gathering provided a crucial platform for dialogue, collaboration, and collective action against marine plastic pollution.

Among the prominent voices was Albania’s Institute for Nature Conservation in Albania (INCA), which spotlighted the country’s contributions through its involvement in the BeMed+ (Beyond Plastic Med) initiative. Funded by FFEM and coordinated by BeMed with implementation support from IUCN and Surfrider Foundation Europe (SFE), the project aims to build long-term, practical solutions to reduce plastic waste throughout the Mediterranean. INCA, serving as the national coordinator for Albania, is working on the Shkumbin River watershed—an area critical to preventing inland waste from reaching the Adriatic Sea.

Drawing from its on-the-ground experience, INCA emphasized the severe environmental stress facing Albania’s coasts. Despite boasting two Marine Protected Areas (Karaburun-Sazan and Porto Palermo), the nation’s broader coastal zones continue to struggle with chronic plastic pollution. Factors such as poor waste management systems, unchecked river discharge, and rising tourism intensify the problem. Alarmingly, the inclusion of plastic pollution criteria in the planning and oversight of protected areas remains sorely lacking.

The challenges are well-known: insufficient recycling infrastructure, fragmented institutional coordination, and patchy law enforcement continue to delay progress. Yet, INCA also highlighted a growing wave of reform. New national legislation promoting integrated waste management, the circular economy, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)—alongside bans on single-use plastic bags - signal a step in the right direction.

Through BeMed+, INCA is collaborating with local actors under SEF’s guidance to craft a targeted action plan aimed at improving waste management in municipalities, the HoReCa sector (hotels, restaurants, cafés), and the field of sports tourism, while empowering communities to take an active role. These local measures are envisioned as the first blocks in a larger structure of sustainable, national-level impact.

Perhaps the most resounding message of the conference was that no country can win this battle alone. Regional cooperation—rooted in shared strategies, knowledge exchange, and alignment with international frameworks like the Barcelona Convention and UNEP-MAP—is vital. Together, the countries of the Western Balkans can become a united force against the tide of marine plastic pollution.

The path ahead is long, but gatherings like this prove that momentum is building. From the banks of the Shkumbin River to the waters of the Adriatic, a plastic-free Mediterranean is a goal worth fighting for. And the journey continues!

 

 

 

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