H2020 MAELSTROM PROJECT

The H2020 MAELSTROM (Smart technology for MArinE Litter SusTainable RemOval and Management) project strives to provide answers and diversified solutions to the complex question to the removal and sustainable treatment of marine litter legacy. MAELSTROM leverages on the integration of complementary technologies for marine litter removal in different European coastal ecosystems, compounded with full-fledged circular economy and societal oriented solutions. In particular, the project (i) sets out a reliable multidisciplinary and scientifically sound approach for the assessment of marine debris distribution and impact on marine life in highly valuable ecosystems and protected areas; (ii) designs and manufactures scalable, replicable and automated technologies, co-powered with renewable energy and second generation fuel, to identify, remove and sort marine litter; (iii) evaluates over time the effectiveness of marine litter removal devices along with their impact on local ecosystems; (iv) integrates different technologies to track, sort and recycle all types of collected marine litter into valuable raw materials for future marketisation; (v) assesses the economic and societal impact of the MAELSTROM solutions providing also a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of the technologies and products; (vi) enhances social awareness about the marine litter issue and engages citizens and stakeholders in MAELSTROM activities; (vii) interplays with similar projects to maximize innovation uptake for marine litter removal within and outside the EU. MAELSTROM is formally supported by a set of key stakeholders committed to sustain its core actions and its follow up activities. The consortium is a tight knit group made of research centers and foundations of excellence in marine life, biology and sustainable energy, AI and robotics, multinational /national recycling companies with certified industrial plants, a market consultancy company, a micro-enterprise and a plastic-focussed NGO. MAELSTROM is supporting the Mission by contributing to remove the litter from the coastal environment developing a seabed cleaning platform (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EVQm-0yyRY) to clean the seafloor close to the historical city of Venice (IT) and a Bubble Barrier to prevent the litter to enter the ocean in the Porto Region (PT). The collected litter will then be sorted, recycled and transformed in new products for the market. At the same time, MAELSTROM supports the Mission by networking with all the other initiatives aiming to tackle the marine litter issue and by involving ciizen and stakeholders in several national and international activities (clean-ups, webinars, international workshops, etc.).