Mismanaged plastic waste in coastal areas is a system failure: materials are discarded, poorly contained, or left in places exposed to wind, runoff, and tides. Because sources sit meters from water, small operational gaps scale into continuous leakage. The result is marine 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.

Definition and exposure

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, storage yards without storm protection. Coastal density means short pathways from ground to water; rainfall, tide and wind act as immediate transport drivers.

Operational drivers

• Seasonal load, static capacity: summer tourism multiplies waste volumes while bins, routes and staff remain unchanged. In Mediterranean destinations, waste generation can triple during peak season, outpacing collection capacity. Overflow and side-waste attract birds and wind, triggering loss of films and foams.
• Stormwater shortcuts: curbside drains and outfalls lacking capture baskets deliver fragments and cigarette filters directly to creeks and estuaries during rain events; tidal pumping re-suspends stranded debris.
• Port and marina logistics: unsealed containers, torn bags and unsecured payloads during loading/unloading create micro-losses; damaged packaging and pallet wrap fragment under abrasion (sand, UV, 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 under storms, causing secondary leakage.

Materials and hotspots

Composition governs fate. Films, foams and multilayers (lightweight, high surface-area) are easily lofted and re-mobilized; rigid packaging and labels abrade into microfragments under wave motion; elastomers and composites lodge in dunes and the strandline (the deposition zone shaped by waves); ghost gear entangles and sinks or snags on the seabed. Hotspots cluster where people and waterflows converge: busy beaches, river mouths, ferry terminals, fish markets, storm outfalls, and storage near estuaries. UNEP estimates that without action, plastic leakage into aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple by 2040.

Addressing mismanagement requires both prevention and verified recovery. In practice, action happens where waste meets water. Here Ogyre enters in practice and operates on two fronts. In the sea, local fishers work through the Fishing for Litter model, bringing ashore debris encountered during trips—items lodged on the seabed, drifting nearshore or caught in nets are recovered instead of being re-discarded. Along coastal areas, waste fishers intercept ocean-bound waste before it reaches marine environments, through cleanups with the local community and support to local partners end-of-life solutions at river mouths, ports, and busy beaches.

All collected material is delivered to certified cooperatives for sorting, recycling, or responsible disposal, with the priority on the most sustainable outcome, according to the Ogyre Protocol. Each batch is tracked via blockchain, ensuring transparency, 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 (2020), Stop Ghost Gear. The Most Deadly Form of Marine Plastic Debris link

👉 How big is global plastic waste today? link

👉 How does plastic enter the Ocean? link

👉 What is marine litter made of? link

👉 How to classify micro and macroplastics? link

👉 Floating vs. seabed plastic: which is worse? link