4. Impacts of plastics

4.1 Socio-economic impact

Despite the difficulties involved in assessing socio-economic impacts (see table 1 ), the most obvious is the impact of plastic pollution on coastal areas, particularly beaches and foreshores. The heritage value of these sites is greatly affected, and the economic stakes linked to tourism can be heavily impacted (recent closures of very touristy beaches, for example). These impacts are often of an aesthetic nature, and are reflected and quantified in the costs incurred by cleaning. Along the coast, aquaculture activities can be the cause of substantial inputs of plastics into the marine environment, particularly in shellfish production areas (oysters, mussels and other shellfish), due to the loss...