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Innovative Solutions for Plastic Free European Rivers

Project description

A holistic solution to safeguard the future of our rivers

European rivers are under siege, drowning in litter, macroplastics and microplastics. A threat to aquatic ecosystems, these pollutants compromise the very lifeforce of our continents. In this context, the EU-funded INSPIRE project brings together 20 groundbreaking technologies and strategic actions to detect, collect and prevent the proliferation of pollutants. It presents a holistic solution to safeguard the future of our rivers. These innovations will be tested through 6 use cases, with 26 partners across academia, industry and communication. INSPIRE charts a course towards cleaner rivers, setting a new standard for environmental stewardship.

Objective

INSPIRE's main objective is to contribute to the drastic reduction of litter, macro and microplastics in European rivers in a holistic approach, by bringing together 20 technologies and actions for:
DETECTION of the pollution present in the river and at the riverbank,
COLLECTION of litter and macroplastics at the river bank and litter, macro and microplastics in the river,
PREVENTION of litter, macro and microplastics to enter the river by collecting it from its waste stream before it can enter the river and by developing biodegradable alternatives for currently non-degradable polluting products, to avoid they will further be used and arrive in the river as litter. Six use case are defined in INSPIRE to install and test the technologies and actions, to model the processes related to the water purification activities, to obtain 7 well defined solutions at detection, collection or prevention level and combinations thereof. The technical feasibility is backboned by a techno-economical analysis with the development of business cases for the solutions, action plans towards upscaling and replication and together with mapping and modelling all elements are brought together to develop a Master Plan for tackling the challenges of the mission and contributing to the objectives of the mission. The INSPIRE project will be very visible due to its well developed dissemination and communication plan and strategy for community engagement. Apart from the general dissemination and communication tools and activities, specific activities will be setup on festivals, promoting 100% biodegradable products as a result of INSPIRE.
INSPIRE's consortium is composed of 26 partners with complementary expertise and a good balance of academia, industry, communication specialists and soft skills organisations is obtained, who all together will work towards the target of having a number of successful solutions that can find their way to the market and put INSPIRE on the radar.

Coordinator

VLAAMS INSTITUUT VOOR DE ZEE
Net EU contribution
€ 937 450,00
Address
JACOBSENSTRAAT 1
8400 OOSTENDE
Belgium

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Region
Vlaams Gewest Prov. West-Vlaanderen Arr. Oostende
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 937 450,00

Participants (25)