Finally the “Save sea” becomes law. After the go-ahead from the Chamber, the green light also arrives from the Senate of the Republic which has definitively approved the Bill "Provisions for the recovery of waste at sea and in inland waters and for the promotion of the circular economy ('Save the sea law')”.
It is a historic day for the sea and for the future of the planet. Marevivo and the Federation of the Sea, together with Assonave, Assoporti, Confindustria Nautica, Confitarma, Federpesca, Lega Navale, Lega Italiana Vela, Anton Dohrn Zoological Station and La Grande Onda enthusiastically welcome the definitive approval of the law together with the almost 100 signatories of the petition launched by Marevivo on Change.org.
"It is a great victory: for our sea, for our country, for our citizens - says Rosalba Giugni, President of Marevivo –. Thanks to this law, we will have more strength to clean up the sea from plastic, a real scourge for the marine ecosystem and beyond. In fact, microplastics have been found in women's placenta, blood and breast milk. There is no more time: we must all act together. Our future depends on the health of the sea and the health of the sea depends on us".
“The Federation of the Sea and its federated organizations – says the President Mario Mattioli – are proud to have supported Marevivo's initiative and happy to have contributed to the achievement of this important result that the whole world of the marine economy shares and which will certainly have an immediate and concrete environmental impact on the health of our seas, lakes and rivers, contributing to further development of the circular economy”.
Waste at sea: what changes?
The new law is made up of ten articles and dictates provisions which also involve the transposition of the European directive 2019/883 on port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships.
From now on, waste accidentally caught or voluntarily collected will be part of municipal waste. This means that the fishermen will not have to dump them into the sea, otherwise they risk one criminal complaint for the illegal transport of waste, but they will have to take it to the ports. The port authorities will then be obliged to take it and take charge of it in special ecological islands, to then recycle it. The rules also apply to lakes and rivers.
The law also provides for the installation of collection systems at the mouth of rivers to intercept plastic before it reaches the sea and also deals with desalination plants, education, cleaning campaigns, Posidonia oceanica and much more.
Finally, after publication in the Official Gazette, our country will have an effective and concrete tool, also requested by the European Union, to safeguard our seas.
