PlaSTic On beaches: 3D-distRibution and weathering (STORAGE)
Lead Organizations
- Clermont-Auvergne INP
- The Ocean Cleanup
- The Center for Marine Debris Research at Hawaii Pacific University
Project Description
STORAGE will study the fate (transportation and transformation) of Marine Plastic Debris (MPD) in coastal environments which is predicted to store two thirds of the plastics ever released into the environment, and therefore providing a significant puzzle piece to our understanding of the ‘missing plastic’. This research project suggests a novel approach to better understand the fate (transformation and transportation) of MPD through studying storage capacity and capture & release mechanism of MPD on beaches by repeated field-surveys of surface and buried MPD, and studying the weathering of MPD.
The research, training skills and knowledge exchange within STORAGE will be facilitated through stays at the Center for Marine Debris Research, (CMDR) at Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) in the U.S., Cycle de Vie des Polymères (CVP) group at Clermont Auvergne INP in France and a secondment at the Research Team at The Ocean Cleanup office in the Netherlands. This collaboration is also strategic in terms of reaching a variety of target audiences and end users from policy, industry, science and society sectors, for which we will use tailored dissemination, communication and engagement tools (e.g. organisation of public beach clean-ups, scientific workshops and use of social media).
In addition to the communication activities to the wider public: training and supervision of master students, interns and volunteers at the CMDR, The Ocean Cleanup and CA-INP for field-surveys, lab analyses and data processing of MPD will also contribute ocean literacy on plastic pollution in different geographical and multidisciplinary sectors, across age, gender and cultures.
The research plan is to fill in current knowledge gaps in Marine Plastic Debris fate (transportation and transformation), and consequently provide scientific evidence to guide mitigation strategies, clean-up technologies and decision making within the present and future legislative measures against plastic pollution prompted by the EU and global agreements.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101061749. STORAGE is endorsed as “No 93.2. PlaSTic On beaches: 3D-distRibution and weathering” as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030, and is attached to the Ocean Decade Programme “15. Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs)”.
