CORDIS

Plastics enter the ocean from numerous land-based and marine sources. Macro plastic pollution is highly visible in the surface layers of ocean as well as on coasts and beaches and can have a serious impact on the native organisms. However, a more insipid problem in the environment, is micro plastic debris (<5 mm) which accumulate in natural habitats from pole to pole and from the ocean surface to the seabed, as well as being deposited on urban beaches. Micro plastic pollution is difficult to monitor and have serious implications to human health and the functioning of marine ecosystems, easily accumulating in fish/shellfish, due to their small sizes and large volume-to-surface area ratio. Microplastics are known to absorb other persistent organic pollutants, such as PCBs and DDT, which when ingested by lower trophic levels are inserted in the food chain and thereby have a direct potential for adverse consequences to human population and to the environment. It is imperative to control further microplastic contamination of marine ecosystems and the best way to do this is by reducing marine litter at the source.
CLAIM develops and demonstrates innovative technologies and approaches, suitable for removing visible and invisible litter at their point of introduction to the marine environment (e.g. river runoff and waste water treatment plants - WWTPs) and in the marine environment.
The primary objective of the CLAIM project is to provide practical tools for a step change towards the mitigation and efficient ecosystem management of marine litter pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea. CLAIM is developing 5 innovative marine cleaning technologies and will prevent litter from entering the sea at two main source points: WWTPs and river mouths. Right after an effective pre-filtering system has sorted and collected litter, a photocatalytic nanocoating device will degrade microplastics in wastewater treatment plants. Mounted on ships a small-scale thermal treatment device (pyrolizer) will be used to turn collected litter into, for example, energy powering ships and heating up ports. At river mouths, innovative floating boom will collect and monitor visible litter, while a CLAIM network of FerryBox systems will operate on ships in the Baltic, West & East Med mounted with an automated seawater sampling device & passive flow-through filtering system.
CLAIM is also developing innovative modelling tools to assess and create informative maps about visible and invisible marine plastic pollution at basin and regional scales (in the Med and Baltic Seas).

CLAIM workflow splits in 3 main phases: 1st phase - Development, 2nd phase - Demonstration and 3rd phase - Scale-up and integrated impact assessment. In the 1st reporting period emphasis was given at the development phase. In addition, a broader database including the existing methods for managing plastic litter and related guidelines and regulations (D3.1) as well as a Report on the state of the art of the influence of micro and macro plastics on ecosystem services e.g. population dynamics of key species, biodiversity, habitat availability aquaculture (D4.1) have been produced. Moreover, an overview of the types of policy tools relevant to address marine litter has been made as background work (D5.1).
1st phase: DEVELOPMENT
Monitoring/modelling (Research, Piloting)
Innovative modelling and monitoring tools developed to assess marine litter pollution in the Med and Baltic Seas (WP1).
A prototype filtering system able to be configured with several diameters of filtering components and automated flow rate controllers has been designed, manufactured and tested in a coastal sampling station and on board an R/V vessel.
The main sources of plastic litter in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas have been quantified and mapped, using digital maps of human activities, such as population density and river runoff to define the source inputs of litter (WP1 - D1.1). These maps have been refined when possible with additional data on source inputs, collected within the project (WP4 – D4.2). Existing particle-tracking models have been further optimized to realistically simulate the pathways of floating debris in the study areas (WP1 - D1.2).
Cleaning / Energy recovery (Research, Piloting)
An innovative pilot for the removal of microplastics has been developed, employing visible light (sunlight) photocatalysis with green nanotechnology based coatings. Metal oxide semiconductor nanostructures have been synthesized and chemically attached to supporting membranes to ensure photochemical activity without releasing the nanoparticles into the water-stream (WP2 – D2.1). A lab-scale prototype was designed and tested in controlled conditions, for its efficacy in microplastics degradation, before this is scaled-up for industrial application (WP2 – D2.4).
A low cost automation system device has been developed for the pre-filtration of visible litter prior to the nanocoating device, ensuring its optimum operation (WP2 – D2.3). An innovative U-shaped floating boom for the collection of visible plastic litter has been designed and manufactured (WP2 – D2.2).
2nd phase: DEMONSTRATION
Cleaning & data collection
The manufactured floating boom was deployed at the river mouth of Kifissos river. The boom was regularly monitored and tactically cleaned from the collected items, the size, origin and composition of which were evaluated (WP3 – D3.4).
3rd phase: SCALE-UP AND INTEGRATED IMPACT ASSESSMENT
The prototype devices will be scaled-up to be used in WWTPs to test their efficiency in real conditions. In parallel, the developed modelling tools will be used to assess the current status of plastic pollution on a basin scale, identifying the main pathways and accumulation areas of marine litter in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact include:
1) Improve monitoring technology of plastic particles: CLAIM is developing an innovative new device which can collect samples while operating on ships of opportunity (FerryBox) that can be used for measurements of microplastic particles of different sizes. The device has been designed, produced and tested in a laboratory and on-board. It can effectively collect the microplastic particles (40, 100 and 300 μm).
2) Eliminate knowledge gaps on the marine litter sources and pathways to the sea: A quantitative method developed for mapping land spatial distribution of micro- and macroplastic discharge and their pathways to the sea.
3) Modelling and forecasting the movement and the fate of marine litter in the sea: CLAIM developed both Eulerian and Lagrangian modelling tools, advancing the knowledge for Mediterranean and Baltic Seas beyond the current state-of-the-art.
4) Innovative methods for cleaning microplastics: CLAIM is developing a reliable and cost effective technique for the treatment of microplastic particles in the WWTPs, employing visible light (sunlight) photocatalysis with green nanotechnology based coatings. CLAIM works on nano-engineered materials for developing a robust advanced oxidation technique to non-selectively degrade microplastics in water bodies. This approach is easily scalable, environmentally friendly and requires no external power source other than natural sunlight, making it eco-friendly and cost-effective, as well as suitable for remote installations.