COP – Cirkular Ocean-Bound Plastic

Ocean plastic pollution is a global problem that has serious consequences for marine wildlife and biodiversity, e.g. through entanglement, toxicity from hazardous substances and ingestion of plastic.

This greatly affects the local ecosystems in the South Baltic Sea. Plastic and residual waste that reaches the South Baltic Sea originates from both land- and sea-based sources and breaks down over time into microscopic plastic particles.

80% of the plastic waste that ends up in the ocean originates from land-based sources, including urban areas. The waste primarily reaches the sea via waterways connected to urban maritime environments such as rivers, canals and harbours.

To prevent more (plastic) waste from ending up in this vulnerable ecosystem, there is an urgent need to create awareness and incentives to prevent it.

The purpose of the project

With the Interreg project Circular Ocean-Bound Plastic (COP), the focus will be on identifying problems and opportunities for the collection, recycling and/or reuse of seabed (plastic) waste. These efforts are supported through collaborations by identifying blue and green SMEs within the region that will either identify and/or co-create innovative collection methods for land- and sea-based streams of plastic waste.

Financing

The project is financed by Interreg South Baltic with funds from the European Regional Development Fund. Read more about Interreg here

CLEAN is responsible for the project and the project runs for 3 years.