this was not intended to be representative of society in general but that portion of society that might be considered as being more connected to the issue of marine litter and microplastics with a sample of just under respondents from over mostly european countries the marlisco survey found that the majority of respondents were concerned about marine litter and perceived the marine environment as being highly valuable to society there was a belief that the situation regarding marine litter was worsening and that most marine litter was derived from the sea b hartley unpublished data