MENA region has world’s highest per-capita marine plastic waste—over 6 kg per person annually—threatening marine life, fisheries, tourism, coastal livelihoods due to single-use plastics and weak inland waste management.
Plastic debris harms coral reefs, fish and sea turtles via entanglement or ingestion. Blue-economy areas lose billions annually in tourism, fisheries; coastlines suffer litter, stormflow pollution, and ecosystem damage.
Countries like UAE banned bags, Styrofoam; Abu Dhabi cut single-use bag use by 75%, recovered 130 million bottles. Innovations like AI sorting, chemical recycling, modular units are scaling regionally.
Lebanon’s ReMaL reduced stormwater plastic runoff. Egypt’s reverse logistics boosts PET recovery. PolyNext 2025 will spotlight cross-border solutions, tech, policy to protect marine ecosystems.