Dubrovnik's beaches are drowning in garbage: Albanian waste threatens tourism!

Dubrovnik's beaches are drowning in garbage: Albanian waste threatens tourism!

Dubrovnik, a popular holiday resort on the Croatian coast, is increasingly struggling with a frightening waste problem. Residents report that the city's beaches and harbor, particularly the famous Banje Beach and Porat City Harbor, continue to fill up with trash. The coasts are regularly flooded with plastic bottles, bags and disposable packaging, especially in November. Ivan Brajević, a resident of the city, documented the situation and shared images on social networks to raise awareness of the problem. Port employees try in vain to remove the garbage with large garbage bags, while the southeast wind transports large amounts of waste to the coast, mainly from Albania, as kosmo.at reports.

The conditions raise questions, especially in view of the recurring cleanliness campaigns that place a heavy financial burden on the city. Many citizens are dissatisfied with the situation and are suggesting that the costs of the cleaning should be passed on to Albania. Mayor Mato Franković has already initiated talks with Albanian representatives to identify the source of the problem. Together with the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are working on a sustainable solution to reduce contamination and share the costs. Other countries in the region, such as Italy and Montenegro, are also facing similar problems, as fr.de reports.

Cross-border problem

Blaž Pezo, the prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, emphasizes that this is a major problem that requires cross-border cooperation. The introduction of technologies such as satellite marine monitoring is being discussed to better detect and prevent litter at sea. Croatia is also at risk from rising sea levels, which is threatening some beaches and further exacerbating the problem.

The European Environment Agency is concerned about recent developments and increasing marine pollution. The forecasts for the future are alarming: by 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish. Figures show that around 10 million tonnes of waste are released into the environment every year, 75% of which is plastic waste. The fishing industry alone causes around 640,000 tonnes of plastic waste in the sea. In addition, plastic bottles take at least 450 years to decompose, which increases the urgency of measures, as careelite.de shows.

The city of Dubrovnik, known as the filming location of the successful series “Game of Thrones”, attracts around 1.5 million tourists every year. This tourist traffic increases the need and pressure to make the clean-up operations successful and to protect Croatia's unique coastlines. The responsible mayor Franković is therefore calling for sustainable solutions and more financial support from Albania in order to reduce the burden on the community and preserve the untouched beauty of the region.