The H2020 Innovation Action “Cleaning Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods in European seas” (CLAIM) deals with the increasing problem of marine plastic pollution. Our society's overwhelming reliance on plastic objects poses a potential threat to human health and the environment. Plastics are degraded physically over time producing microplastics (MPs) and as recent studies confirm their presence in our environment, drinking water and human blood, have earned significant consideration around the world due to the potential impact on human health. In the recent years, there has been a thrust to diminish plastic litter, both macro (>5mm) and micro (≤5mm) as we move towards more environmentally friendly practices, whereas both national and local legislation and regulations are in handle of being drafted and implemented on national and local scales.
The envisaged solutions are important as plastics affect the marine ecosystem services which are the benefits that nature provides to human well-being (recreation, fisheries, aquaculture, marine protected areas etc), and as a society, we depend on healthy and pollution free ecosystems.
CLAIM focused on the development of five innovative cleaning technologies (CLEAN TRASH® system, small-scale thermal treatment devices, W&W EcoPlex Microplastic Remover®, Photocatalytic Reactor, CLAIM FB system), modelling tools and approaches fostering ecosystem services, targeting the prevention and in situ management of marine plastic litter at their point of introduction to the marine environment (river estuaries and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)), towards the mitigation and efficient ecosystem management of marine litter pollution in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. CLAIM also provided policy briefs to establish recommendations for the EU on the most promising policies that could help to achieve its marine litter objectives.
