The approach taken is a combination of social and technical removal strategies targeting the industrial hotspots through cooling water systems (CWS), harbours, lagoons, shores and the shallow sea water. The technical approach comprises of comparing the existing removal approaches (tendering), with multiple developing technologies at varying testing sites in Europe and in the Caribbean for the removal of nano/micro/macro-plastics. The approach entails a comprehensive monitoring system to gather data at frequencies of every 6 month for 2 years. This is done to understand the effectiveness of the new technologies and current clean-up approaches both in terms of cutting down plastic presence in the environment and its effects on the marine and local ecosystem. The technical approach will be a blueprint in establishing a coherent and synchronized system of cleaning, that is scalable and replicable.
The social strategy comprises of an incentive-based initiative that relies on a remote application. The focus is to get the local population involved by incentivising plastic pick-up in return for monetary gain or other rewards. With the plastic gathered at the demo sites, it is to be treated for reusability by investigating different recycling approaches.
This would allow to close the loop and achieve circularity. The approaches include a.o. replacement of fossil fuels for a Steel Mill, where its produced syngas is sent to a chemical plant as raw material to produce chemicals.
The added value of the approach is the inter-connectedness of the processes in acquiring plastic waste and creating circularity in the value chain. The complementary consortium of 17 partners from 10 different countries, including 2 research organizations, 2 Government, 4 Industry End Users, 2 NGO, 7 SME of which 4 technology providers and 3 service providers.
Project Duration: October 2020 - 2024
Project Budget: 7.4 million Euro
Funding Source: EU Horizon2020 GA: 101000612
Project Partners: SINTEF, Empower, ArcelorMittal,Probotica, Ponikve, Sensum, EdF, NanoBay, VLPF, Blue-Expert, DOW, FishFlow Innovations, H2O Biofouling Solutions BV, Uniper, Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Rivers Trust
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101000612
