Poor waste management represents a systemic failure, particularly along coastal areas, where materials are dispersed, handled without adequate containment, or abandoned in locations exposed to wind, rainfall, and tides. Because sources sit meters from water, small operational gaps scale into continuous leakage. The result is pollution along beaches, ports, and estuaries, with rapid cycles of transport and fragmentation. In 2019, mismanaged waste drove most of the 22 million tonnes of plastic that leaked into the environment worldwide, 88% of which were macroplastics.

This article clarifies what “mismanaged” means at the coast, maps the operational drivers, and outlines interventions that reduce exposure before items leak into the sea.

What mismanagement looks like

Waste mismanagement covers any stage where plastic is outside controlled systems: littering on beaches, overflowing bins, broken enclosures at tourist sites, illegal dumping near drains, uncovered skips in port areas, and storage yards without storm protection. Coastal density means short pathways from ground to water; rainfall, tide, and wind act as immediate transport drivers.

What drives leakage

• Seasonal load, static capacity: Summer tourism multiplies waste volumes while bins, collection routes, and staffing remain unchanged. Under this pressure, overflow and side waste, combined with wind exposure, drive the dispersal of lightweight plastics such as films and foams. In Mediterranean destinations, the amount of waste leaking into marine environments during peak season can increase by up to 40% compared to the rest of the year.
• Stormwater shortcuts: Curbside drains and outfalls lacking capture baskets deliver fragments and cigarette filters directly to creeks and estuaries during rain events.
• Port and marina logistics: Unsealed containers, torn bags, and unsecured payloads during loading and unloading create continuous micro-losses. Damaged packaging and pallet wrap fragment under abrasion from sand, UV exposure, and traffic.
• Coastal activities: Aquaculture and fisheries generate lines, nets, and loops. When identification, retrieval, and reporting protocols are weak, ghost gear persists close to shore. Ghost gear makes up at least 10% of marine litter and constitutes 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by weight.
• End-of-life gaps: When collected material lacks a verified route to treatment, temporary stockpiles accumulate and fail during storms, causing secondary leakage.

How materials spread

Material type shapes what happens next. Lightweight plastics such as films, foams, and multilayer packaging—characterized by low density and high surface area—are easily lifted by wind and re-mobilized after deposition. Rigid packaging and labels progressively abrade under wave action, breaking into smaller fragments. Elastomers and composite materials tend to lodge in dunes and along the strandline (the zone where waves deposit debris), while ghost gear entangles, sinks, or becomes snagged on the seabed. As a result, accumulation concentrates where human activity and water flows intersect: busy beaches, river mouths, ferry terminals, fish markets, stormwater outfalls, and storage areas near estuaries. According to UNEP, without corrective action, plastic leakage into aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple by 2040.

Addressing the consequences of waste mismanagement requires two complementary actions: upstream prevention and the recovery of waste that has already been dispersed. This is where Ogyre operates, working on two fronts.

At sea, fishers follow the Fishing for Litter model, recovering marine waste during regular fishing activities or through dedicated missions. Once brought ashore, the collected materials are directed to the most appropriate end-of-life option.

Along coastal areas, waste fishers intercept ocean-bound waste before it reaches marine environments, through targeted clean-ups carried out with local communities.

All materials collected, both at sea and along the coast, are delivered to certified cooperatives for sorting, recycling, or responsible disposal, prioritising the most sustainable outcome in line with the Ogyre Protocol. Each batch is then recorded on a blockchain registry, ensuring transparency and traceability.

Coastal mismanagement could be prevented if containment, operations and end-of-life were consistently aligned. Weak points along beaches, ports and estuaries allow waste to leak when bins overflow, storage fails under storms, or gear is lost at sea. Interventions such as reinforced containment, drainage adapted to rain and wind, stricter protocols at working waterfronts, and verified treatment routes could reduce exposure. Monitoring would remain essential, linking observed trends to weather and tides and suggesting where recovery efforts might be most effective.

• COREPLA (2023), Report 2023 link
• FAO (2021), Seabed Sources of Marine Litter link
• OECD (2022), Global Plastics Outlook link
• Ogyre (2025), Ogyre Protocol link
• Ogyre (2025), Ogyre Code of Conduct link
• United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP (2021), From Pollution to Solution: A Global Assessment of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution link
• WWF (2022), Impacts of Plastic Pollution in the Oceans on Marine Species, Biodiversity and Ecosystems link
• WWF (2018), Mediterraneo in trappola. Come salvare il mare dalla plastica link
• WWF (2020), Stop Ghost Gear. The Most Deadly Form of Marine Plastic Debris link