“…Αs the Mediterranean holds 1% of the world's waters, it is responsible for 7% of global marine microplastic (MP) and plastic accumulation (730 ton of plastic waste/ day) while household waste management constitutes a major environmental challenge for local authorities along with air pollution. Most Mediterranean citizens perceive that air quality has deteriorated over the last decade while they support effective legislation enforcement (United Nations Environment Programme 2020; Chatziparaskeva et al 2022;Elhamdouni et al 2022). Anthropogenic activities like coastal landfills, dumping sites, ports, fishing activities (resulting in discarded fishing gear), sewage discharge, recreational activities (i.e.…”