Plastic Busters CAP

Fostering knowledge transfer to tackle marine litter in the Med by integrating EbA into ICZM

About the project

Marine litter, the vast majority of which is made of plastics, is globally acknowledged as a major environmental and societal challenge of our time. The Mediterranean is one of the most affected seas by marine litter worldwide, originating primarily from shoreline activities. Therefore, its effective management requires relevant instrument of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) that should be embedded into local development planning. The proposed project will capitalize upon and effectively transfer available knowledge and tools from 5 projects that address the entire management cycle of marine litter - from monitoring and assessment to prevention and mitigation. The project’s comprehensive, multilevel and strategic approach will facilitate the efforts of decision makers and stakeholders in effectively dealing with marine litter towards good environmental status in the Mediterranean. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation as the use of single-use plastics (SUP) such as gloves and masks has increased, threatening to stall and even reverse the progress achieved with regard to SUP which account for up to 50% of beach litter.

Key information

Acronym:

Plastic Busters CAP

Full title:

Fostering knowledge transfer to tackle marine litter in the Med by integrating EbA into ICZM

Thematic objective:

B.4 Environmental protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation

Priority:

B.4.4 Integrated coastal zone management

Countries:

Italy, Greece, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan

Financial data

1.1 million

Total budget

0.9 million

EU contribution

10%

Project co-financing

Highlights

Project in numbers

Partners

Countries

Technical outputs

Project duration

Start date

13 November 2021

End date

12 November 2023

Partnership

News

Events

Library

Project outputs

Documents

Videos

Objective

To enhance and transfer knowledge, experience and best practice tools that address the entire management cycle of marine litter from monitoring and assessment to prevention and mitigation, towards an integrated and strategic approach that couples Ecosystem-based management and ICZM into local development planning

What will be improved?

The project will consolidate and fully exploit the knowledge obtained by 5 relevant projects in order to develop tailored-made capitalization outputs that will create the enabling conditions for a societal shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns, and a truly circular and green economy. In the long-term, it will enhance ecosystem services via a reduced leakage of marine litter and marine plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and less emissions of greenhouse gases by a wise-use and sustainable disposal of plastics.

Who will benefit?

Regional authorities, municipalities & local authorities, including port authorities
Coastal and marine industry (commercial fishing, shipping, aquaculture, coastal tourism)
Waste management sector
Industrial sector (including plastics industry and their down-stream users in the supply chain)
Environmental NGOs
Educational community and citizens

Expected achievements

5 training programmes on marine litter monitoring and assessment
5 pilot marine litter monitoring and assessment campaigns
4 pilot actions to mitigate marine litter
5 training programmes on marine litter mitigation measures
1 roadmap for marine litter policy priorities
1 coastal cities network for a litter-free Mediterranean & Turtle Rescue Centre network

Contribution to policy-making

The project will concretely contribute to the key local, national and regional policies related to marine litter in the involved territories, with special emphasis on the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) (D10) related to marine litter and the Barcelona Convention Regional Plan on marine litter management. Specifically, the results of the project's pilot marine litter monitoring campaigns are expected to be taken up by the institutional partners which will progressively factor them into their national monitoring programs. The demo mitigation measures will effectively support the operationalization of relevant measures in all Mediterranean countries and will promote their uptake within national programmes. The project through its policy outputs will define and provide strategic inputs, strengthen and feed into other relevant strategies and policies such as the Circular Economy Package, the Plastics Strategy, the SUPs Directive and the upcoming SUPs related guidelines of the Barcelona Convention, green/blue economy related policies, etc. Furthermore, through the already existing link and involvement into the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) relevant platforms, key inputs will be provided to the UfM Working Group on Environment and Climate Change; the Working Group on Blue Economy.

About the project

Acronym

Plastic Busters CAP

Title

Fostering knowledge transfer to tackle marine litter in the Med by integrating EbA into ICZM

Description

Marine Litter (ML), the vast majority of which is made of plastics, is globally acknowledged as a major societal challenge of our times due to its significant environmental, economic, social, political and cultural implications. ML enters the ocean from diverse point and diffuse sources, which can be both land-based and ocean-based, while it can also be transported over long distances thus representing a transboundary problem. The Mediterranean is one of the most affected seas by ML worldwide, with ML originating primarily from shoreline activities. Bearing this in mind, it is evident that the effective management of ML requires the pertinent instrument of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) that should be embedded into local development planning. Furthermore, as highlighted in the ENI CBC MED 2014-20 Programme Strategy, incorporating Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) principles into ICZM to local development planning, through the improvement of intra-territorial coordination among different stakeholders is key toward the sustainable management of coastal and marine resources. The proposed project will capitalize upon and effectively transfer available knowledge and tools that address the entire management cycle of ML -from monitoring and assessment to prevention and mitigation- in order to support concrete actions to mitigate ML on the science-policy-society interface. The project’s comprehensive, multilevel and strategic approach will facilitate the efforts of decision makers and stakeholders in effectively dealing with ML towards good environmental status in the Mediterranean. Last but not least, the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated health and safety measures have caused a significant increase in the use of single-use plastics (i.e. gloves, masks) threatening to stall and even reverse the progress achieved with regard to single-use plastics -which account for up to 50% of beach litter- thus, making the need for the proposed project imperative.

Role

Name of the organisation

Country

Region

Contact

Lead beneficiary

University of Siena - Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment

Italy

Toscana

Partner 1

Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development

Greece

Attiki

Partner 2

Legambiente Onlus

Italy

Lazio

Partner 3

Higher Council for Scientific Research - Institute of Marine Sciences

Spain

Partner 4

El Ramis Society for Local Community Development of Barrany

Egypt

Marsa Matruh

Partner 5

National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies - Department of Marine environment

Tunisia

Partner 6

Tyre Coast Nature Reserve

Lebanon

Partner 7

The University of Jordan - Aqaba Branch. Faculty of Basic and Marine Sciences, Department of Marine Biology

Jordan

Al-Aqaba

Associates

Role

Name of the organisation

Country

Associate 1

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn - Dipartimento di Ecologia Marina Integrata Sede Territoriale Sicilia

Italy

Associate 2

Fundació Universitària Balmes (Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya), Centre Tecnològic BETA. (UVic-UCC)

Spain

Associate 3

Comune di Favignana - Ente gestore dell’Area Marina protetta “Isole Egadi”

Italy

Associate 4

Fundación de la Comunidad Valenciana para la Investigación, Promoción y Estudios Comerciales de Valenciaport (Fundación Valenciaport)

Spain

Associate 5

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Dipartimento di Scienze del Sistema Terra e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente

Italy

Associate 6

The Arab Office for Youth and Environment (المكتب العربى للشباب والبيئة) - AOYE

Egypt

Associate 7

International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

Other

Associate 8

Ministère de l’Environnement - Direction Générale de l’Environnement et de la Qualité de vie

Tunisia

Associate 9

Municipality of Bizerte

Tunisia

Associate 10

Ente Parco Nazionale “Isola di Pantelleria”

Italy

Associate 11

Aqaba Development Corporation (شركة تطوير العقبة) - Transport & Logistics Department

Jordan

Project news

01 November 2023

Plastic Busters CAP collects more than 80 thousand plastic objects on 20 Mediterranean beaches: the results at the Final Conference

Plastic Busters CAP project conclude its ambitious mission to address marine litter by successfully organ…

Sustainable tourism

Artisanal fishing

Green entrepreneurship

Technology transfer

Resource efficiency

Creative industries

Elderly care

Social and solidarity economy

Women’s empowerment

Water efficiency

Waste management

Marine litter

About the project

Key information

Financial data

Highlights

Project in numbers

Project duration

Partnership

News

Events

Library

Project outputs

Documents

Videos

Objective

What will be improved?

Who will benefit?

Expected achievements

Contribution to policy-making

About the project

Associates

Plastic Busters CAP collects more than 80 thousand plastic objects on 20 Mediterranean beaches: the results at the Final Conference

Plastic Busters CAP in Egypt for the Marine Litter Monitoring and Mitigation workshop

Plastic Busters CAP organizes in Tunisia a Workshop to integrate Marine Litter into Local and National Planning

Plastic Busters Cap in Taranto (Italy) celebrates the World Cleanup Day on 16 September

Plastic Busters Cap in Greece involves 98 passionate marine litter practitioners for beach and seafloor litter surveys

Plastic Busters Cap involves 4000 volunteers for 30th edition of "Clean up in the Mediterranean" against marine litter

Plastic Busters Cap launches Clean Up The Med campaign: join us on 12-13-14 May 2023

Plastic Busters CAP in Italy is looking in for a consultant in beach-litter monitoring

Plastic Busters CAP launches a science campaign on marine litter: get involved & make an impact!

Plastic Busters CAP creates strong synergies in Tunisia to promote sustainable tourism

Plastic Busters CAP in Lebanon is looking for experts in monitoring marine litter in Tyre waters

Plastic Busters CAP in Lebanon is looking for experts in monitoring Marine Litter and Mitigation actions

Plastic Busters CAP in Lebanon is looking in for a Marine Litter Policy Expert

Plastic Busters CAP in Lebanon is looking for a Marine Litter Expert

Plastic Busters CAP is looking for a consultant in marine litter policies

Plastic Busters CAP organizes in Egypt the national training on marine litter monitoring and mitigation measures

Plastic Busters CAP to deliver lectio magistralis about the impact of marine litter on the Mediterranean Sea

256 participants came together online at the ENI CBC Plastic Busters CAP e-course on marine litter monitoring and mitigation

Join Plastic Busters CAP e-course on marine litter monitoring and mitigation

Acting for marine litter: Plastic Busters Cap project at COP27 event

Plastic Busters Cap organized in Tunisia the national training on marine litter monitoring and mitigation measures

Plastic Busters CAP is looking for an auditor in Lebanon

Plastic Busters CAP is looking for a technical expert support in Italy

Plastic Busters CAP in Naples (Italy) for the International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea

Plastic Busters Cap presented in Siena at the XXXI Congress of the Italian Society of Ecology

Plastic Busters CAP is looking for a communication manager in Lebanon

Plastic Busters Cap publishes the training material of the Workshop "Monitoring marine litter in environment and biodiversity"

Plastic Busters CAP delivers the first regional training on “Monitoring Marine Litter in Environment and Biodiversity"

Plastic Busters CAP in Lisbon (Portugal) for the United Nation Ocean Summit 2022

Tunisia: Plastic Busters Cap project is looking for an external auditor in Tunisia

Plastic Busters CAP is looking for a Project Manager in Lebanon

First Plastic Buster CAP Steering Committee: united in the fight against marine litter from the North to the South of the Mediterranean Sea

Greece: Plastic Busters Cap project is looking for an external auditor in Greece

Plastic Buster CAP and Plastic Busters MPAs project acting together to tackle the marine litter in the Mediterranean

Italy: Plastic Busters Cap project is looking for an external auditor

Strategic synergies between projects: Plastic Busters CAP meets Plastic Busters MPAs

Marine litter prevention and mitigation in the Mediterranean: successful kick-off of Plastic Buster CAP project

Combating marine litter in the Mediterranean sea, launch of the Plastic Busters CAP project

PLASTIC BUSTERS CAP has launched a call for tenders to support project management

Maria Cristina Fossi, scientific coordinator of Plastic Busters CAP receives in Italy an international award for her studies for the protection of the environment

Plastic Busters CAP tells the experience of the Training on Monitoring Marine Litter in Manfredonia -Italy

Let's cooperate for saving the Mediterranean sea from the marine litter: Plastic Busters CAP project interviews Ali Badreddine, Tyre Coast Nature Reserve, Lebanon

Plastic Busters CAP joins forces from the south to the north of the Mediterranean for marine litter monitoring and mitigation

Plastic Busters Cap in a Nutshell

Training Materials of International workshop in Manfredonia “Monitoring Marine Litter in Environment and Biodiversity” 12-14 July 2022

Projects view

Plastic Buster CAP will participate in the 10th Meeting of the Union for Mediterranean ( UfM) Working Group on Blue Economy