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Evidence on plastic pollution has already been gathered in both the freshwater systems and the marine environment (including the Danube and the Black Sea) over the last decades. Scientific investigations identified strong linkages between marine pollution, terrestrial areas and land-based activities. Poor waste management, everyday littering, plastic industry facilities, consuming of products of textile and cosmetic industries in households and tire abrasion pollute rivers that further discharge plastic litter into the receiving seas. While priority should be given to reducing plastic pollution at source, river clean-up actions are also highly important to eliminate plastic litter accumulation hot-spots.

On 26-28 Feb 2006 an international conference on the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Danube Delta took place in Odessa, Ukraine, under the aegis of UNESCO and ICPDR. The aim of the conference was to generate a vision for the conservation and sustainable develoment of the Danube Delta.

As both the largest remaining natural wetland and second largest river delta in Europe, the Danube Delta is one of the continent's most valuable habitats for wetland wildlife. Pollution and discharge manipulation from upstream has a huge effect on this area of high biodiversity, plus the delta continues to change ecologically itself – the Danube Delta spreads seaward at a rate of 10 to 25 metres every year.