Mapa dotacji

Ocean plastic is a global pollution problem which heavily impacts aquatic marine life and diminishes biodiversity, e.g., through entanglement, toxicity flows of hazardous substances, and plastic ingestion. This effects further impacts the local biomes of the South Baltic Sea. Plastics, and residual waste fractions, entering the South Baltic Sea (SBS) stems from both land- and sea-based sources, which over time dissolves into micro litter plastics. 80% of plastic waste ending up in the SBS stems from land-based sources, incl. urban areas. The waste finds its way into SBS primarily via waterways connected to urban maritime environments, such as rivers, city canals, harbours, etc. The litter composition varies between a mix of plastics and other residual waste fractions. To prevent more (plastic) waste entering the ecosystem in the SBS there is an urgent need to create awareness and incentives to prevent more (plastic) waste from ending up in this sensitive ecosystem. Part of the challenge is that there is no economic incentive to collect and recycle macro litter plastic waste from ocean-bound waste streams. Macro litter plastic waste that ends up in the rivers and canals is disposed to UV light and salt water, which essentially destroys the surface of the plastic waste, so it is impossible/extremely difficult for optical sensors at sorting plants to determine the type of plastic, hence it is almost impossible to sort and recycle the plastic waste. Ocean macro plastics from land-based sources stem predominantly from areas of high human activity and consumption. Cities are therefore areas that are relevant for further investigation of collection, reuse and recycling of ocean-bound plastics. An increasing number of blue and green SMEs are working with solutions where difficult fraction of plastic waste can be used as input material and where there might be possibilities for using riverine or ocean-bound plastic waste. However, lack of accessibility, security of sup