Thirty European NGOs, among them Nature Trust (Malta), have asked European Union environment ministers to set ambitious marine litter targets as required under EU law.

In an open letter, the NGOs detail the feasibility of setting a 50 per cent reduction target in marine litter by 2020.

Under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, member states have to disclose their initial assessments of their own waters, define what they consider to be “good environmental status” and set targets for several marine environmental challenges.

The NGOs, whose interests range from turtle conservation to waste reduction policy, fear member states could end up wasting the opportunity by setting weak targets that, if achieved, would have little effect on the state of the marine environment.