The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) is collecting signatures for a petition calling for a ban on single-use plastic.

"We are now approaching 400,000 signatures," Aslı Pasinli, vice president of the board of trustees of WWF-Turkey, told Anadolu Agency (AA).

The European Parliament has approved a new law to ban single-use plastic items, such as plates, cutlery, straws and cotton bud sticks, by 2021.

The law also offered EU members to achieve a 90 percent collection target for plastic bottles by 2029. Plastic bottles will also have to contain at least 25 percent of recycled content by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030.

"In order to draw attention to the plastic pollution of the seas, a WWF sailboat will start its journey in the Mediterranean. It will visit Turkey in September," Pasinli said.