SeaClear2.0

Project SeaClear2.0 (Scalable Full-cycle Marine Litter Remediation in the Mediterranean: Robotic and Participatory Solutions) will develop a holistic approach to address the full cycle of marine litter. We aim to prevent and reduce marine litter pollution, particularly plastics and microplastics, in the Mediterranean through (i) Community activation, citizen empowerment, and participatory practices for identifying site-specific measures for marine litter prevention and reduction, (ii) Scaling up and demonstrating the SeaClear2.0 system, an innovative solution with teams of autonomous, intelligent robots for effective monitoring and collection of marine seafloor and surface litter, (iii) Providing solutions for valorization of the collected litter via better sorting and recycling, (iv) Adding novel dimensions in policy making by providing evidence for new legislation and the implementation of existing rules to achieve Good Environmental Status, and (v) Accelerating the uptake of our solution by demonstrating its scalability and replicability to the Mediterranean basin and beyond in three full-scale demonstrations, three pilot tests, and at least five associated regions.