Strategies for MarIne Litter and Environmental prevention of sea pollution in coastal areas

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The SMILE project demonstrated a successful approach for reducing marine litter, through an integrated waste management system involving multiple stakeholders and interventions at coastal and inland areas and which can be easily implemented by municipalities.

The SMILE system is made up of:

A Photo Guide to facilitate the classification of waste items per type, nature and use, which allows to trace the source of the waste item and, consequently, to adopt targeted actions to reduce its dispersion.

The ‘Trashpic’ app enabling citizens to report abandoned waste in the pilot area and track its clean-up, which led to 98 items (467 kg) of litter being collected;

An Environmental Governance System - based on the ISO 14001 Standard - to improve the management of activities on land that can impact on the dispersion of litter in the marine and coastal environment;

Establishment of a Working Group with local authorities along the Maremola river to define a new integrated system for preventing and managing marine litter;

A Check List and a technical document to guide public administrations in the assignment of appropriate contracts for urban waste management and collection services to avoid marine litter; and

An experimental ‘Litter Traps System’ composed of two nets positioned at the Maremola river mouth, which collected 356 items (6 565 kg) of litter;

These actions yielded the following outstanding quantitative results:

Waste collection in the Maremola river basin increased by 15.5% (target 5%);

Quantity of marine litter correctly collected increased by 67% (target 10%);

Reduction of marine litter in pilot area by 30.5% on the beach and by 41% in the shallow waters (target 30%); and

Annual reduction of litter collected by the litter traps - bottom and surface nets - by 72% (target 25%).

The project implemented monitoring, analysis, governance and communication activities and involved a wide spectrum of actors: citizens, tourists, students, enterprises, public administrations, regional and national agencies for the environmental protection, waste management companies. SMILE effectively demonstrated that prevention, implemented simultaneously on the coast and inland, can reduce marine litter.

The project is relevant for improved implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC), the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and the EU Circular Economy Action Plan (COM(2015)614) at national and regional levels. Furthermore, the SMILE approach could be replicated in many similar territorial contexts across Europe.

Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).