About this Research Topic
The CLAIM Project (Cleaning litter by developing and applying innovative methods in European Seas - see https://www.claim-h2020project.eu/) aims to provide practical tools for a step change towards the mitigation and efficient ecosystem management of marine litter pollution in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. CLAIM is doing so by developing and demonstrating cost-efficient cleaning technologies and approaches, targeting the prevention and in situ management of visible (macroplastics >5mm) and invisible (micro <5 mm up to 1 μm) marine litter at their point of introduction to the marine environment and to limit the amount of litter entering the sea. Furthermore, CLAIM is developing and demonstrates fit-for-purpose modeling tools able to identify the regions and services (e.g. fish stocks, aquaculture, sensitive habitats and biodiversity) under increased threat from the introduction of plastics into the marine environment and create informative maps.
The CLAIM project is developing innovative marine cleaning technologies and will prevent litter from entering the sea at two main source points: wastewater treatment plants 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 energy powering ships and heating up ports. At river mouths, an innovative floating boom will collect and monitor visible litter, while FerryBox systems will operate on ships in the Baltic and Mediterranean mounted with a seawater sampling device & passive flow-through filtering system.
An ecosystems approach guides the project through the evaluation of the potential benefit from proposed litter cleaning methods to ecosystem services and human well-being. New business models are being identified to enhance the economic feasibility of upscaling the innovative cleaning technologies. These models take into account existing legal and policy frameworks, as well as the acceptance of the new technologies by their end-users and relevant stakeholders.
This Research Topic welcomes the following papers:
• Datasets and their analysis with respect to visible and invisible marine plastic litter based on historical observations in marine and riparian systems.
• Advanced drift modeling for the determination of sources and sinks of macro and microplastics pollution.
• Identification of marine plastic polluted areas in the marine environment and their impacts on marine organisms.
• Overview of existing methods for managing plastic litter and related guidelines and regulations.
• Characterization of the basic level of presence of litter in commercial seafood specimens to evaluate ecosystem services status.
• State of the art and examples of the influence of micro and macro plastics on ecosystem services (e.g. population dynamics of key species, biodiversity, habitat availability, aquaculture).
• Maps and mapping of potential impacts of visible and invisible plastic on ecosystem services.
• Photocatalysis. Examples of the use of this promising method to prevent microplastics from entering the sea from wastewater treatment plans.
• Legal and policy frameworks regarding marine litter, as well as information from stakeholder interviews.
• Integrated assessments of socio-technical, environmental and economic impacts of new technologies
All Topic Editors declare that they are affiliated with the CLAIM consortium (Cleaning marine Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods) that is an H2020 Innovation Action funded by the EC Grant Agreement number 774586
The CLAIM project is developing innovative marine cleaning technologies and will prevent litter from entering the sea at two main source points: wastewater treatment plants 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 energy powering ships and heating up ports. At river mouths, an innovative floating boom will collect and monitor visible litter, while FerryBox systems will operate on ships in the Baltic and Mediterranean mounted with a seawater sampling device & passive flow-through filtering system.
An ecosystems approach guides the project through the evaluation of the potential benefit from proposed litter cleaning methods to ecosystem services and human well-being. New business models are being identified to enhance the economic feasibility of upscaling the innovative cleaning technologies. These models take into account existing legal and policy frameworks, as well as the acceptance of the new technologies by their end-users and relevant stakeholders.
This Research Topic welcomes the following papers:
• Datasets and their analysis with respect to visible and invisible marine plastic litter based on historical observations in marine and riparian systems.
• Advanced drift modeling for the determination of sources and sinks of macro and microplastics pollution.
• Identification of marine plastic polluted areas in the marine environment and their impacts on marine organisms.
• Overview of existing methods for managing plastic litter and related guidelines and regulations.
• Characterization of the basic level of presence of litter in commercial seafood specimens to evaluate ecosystem services status.
• State of the art and examples of the influence of micro and macro plastics on ecosystem services (e.g. population dynamics of key species, biodiversity, habitat availability, aquaculture).
• Maps and mapping of potential impacts of visible and invisible plastic on ecosystem services.
• Photocatalysis. Examples of the use of this promising method to prevent microplastics from entering the sea from wastewater treatment plans.
• Legal and policy frameworks regarding marine litter, as well as information from stakeholder interviews.
• Integrated assessments of socio-technical, environmental and economic impacts of new technologies
All Topic Editors declare that they are affiliated with the CLAIM consortium (Cleaning marine Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods) that is an H2020 Innovation Action funded by the EC Grant Agreement number 774586
Keywords: Marine litter, Innovative green technologies, forecasting tools, macroplastics, microplastics
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