Circular Ocean-bound Plastic

In collaboration with partners from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Poland, the COP-project will aim to identify challenges and opportunities for collecting and recycling ocean-bound plastic waste in the South Baltic region. With support from Interreg South Baltic, the project runs until September 2026, with a total budget of more than 2.5 million euros.

Learn more about the COP project by visiting www.circularoceanplastic.eu

Latest developments

Stakeholder Workshops Across the South Baltic: Local Collaboration for Cleaner Seas

Feb 6, 2025

The Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP) project has taken an important step in tackling marine litter by hosting stakeholder workshops in our pilot cities. These...

The COP project publishes report on Plastic Waste Streams into the South Baltic Sea

Dec 18, 2024

The Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP) project has published its first full report that examines the plastic waste streams into the South Baltic Sea. The report is...

The Interreg project, “Circular Ocean-bound Plastic,” was officially launched in January 2024.

Jan 17, 2024

In the Interreg project, supported by Interreg South Baltic with funding from the EU, the Ocean Plastic Forum will collaborate with Danish, Swedish, German, and Polish...

Problem

Ocean plastic is a major threat to marine life and biodiversity in the South Baltic Sea, with approx. 80% originating from land-based sources as a result of human activities. The COP project highlights the urgent need for awareness and motivation to reduce the amount of plastic waste going into the sea. Part of the problem is the difficulty to collect and recycle plastic from the water partially due to the rapid degradation. This makes recycling efforts more difficult, stressing the need to map out the challenges and potential solutions.

Project description

The project aims to encourage effective waste collection and recycling practices. The ultimate goal is to promote awareness and encourage innovative solutions among local stakeholders for improved plastic waste management in the South Baltic Sea. To address this, the project will collaborate with local authorities, educational and research institutions, and blue and green SMEs.

The project will conduct pilot activities in several coastal cities in the South Baltic Sea region to test waste collection technologies and examine the potentials of ocean-bound plastic. The pilot cities include: Aarhus, Denmark; Rostock, Germany; and Gdansk, Poland. In each city, different collection methods are used to collect and alanyze waste during a period of at least one year. The analysis will determine the most common types of plastic, sources of the waste and the project will also investigate recycling properties and treatment options for the collected ocean-bound plastic waste.

Funding

The project is funded by Interreg South Baltic with funds from the European Regional Development Fund, aiming to unlock the potentials of the South Baltic’s blue and green growth through cross-border cooperation between local and regional actors from Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Read more about Interreg South Baltic.