Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP)

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-A Poland-Denmark-Germany-Lithuania-Sweden (South Baltic)

Date of latest update: 2025-04-11

Description

Description (EN):

Ocean plastic is a global pollution problem which heavily impacts aquatic marine life and diminishes biodiversity, e.g., through entanglement, toxicity flows of hazardous substances, and plastic ingestion. This effects further impacts the local biomes of the South Baltic Sea. Plastics, and residual waste fractions, entering the South Baltic Sea (SBS) stems from both land- and sea-based sources, which over time dissolves into micro litter plastics. 80% of plastic waste ending up in the SBS stems from land-based sources, incl. urban areas. The waste finds its way into SBS primarily via waterways connected to urban maritime environments, such as rivers, city canals, harbours, etc. The litter composition varies between a mix of plastics and other residual waste fractions. To prevent more (plastic) waste entering the ecosystem in the SBS there is an urgent need to create awareness and incentives to prevent more (plastic) waste from ending up in this sensitive ecosystem. Part of the challenge is that there is no economic incentive to collect and recycle macro litter plastic waste from ocean-bound waste streams. Macro litter plastic waste that ends up in the rivers and canals is disposed to UV light and salt water, which essentially destroys the surface of the plastic waste, so it is impossible/extremely difficult for optical sensors at sorting plants to determine the type of plastic, hence it is almost impossible to sort and recycle the plastic waste. Ocean macro plastics from land-based sources stem predominantly from areas of high human activity and consumption. Cities are therefore areas that are relevant for further investigation of collection, reuse and recycling of ocean-bound plastics. An increasing number of blue and green SMEs are working with solutions where difficult fraction of plastic waste can be used as input material and where there might be possibilities for using riverine or ocean-bound plastic waste. However, lack of accessibility, security of supply and knowledge on the mix and qualities of the plastic waste creates a lack of incentives for companies to consider developing recycling solutions using ocean-bound plastic. The blue and green SMEs have a strong need for data on riverine plastics and plastics found in urban maritime environments to start developing new solutions utilizing these fractions. These prospects call for policy awareness and preventive actions, as the amount of (plastic) waste entering the SBS will only increase (if no solutions are found), which will have massive, negative impacts on the ecosystem itself and the future of the SBS. Therefore, to tackle the problems with ocean (plastic) waste, it is opportune to look at the very source of where the (plastic) waste originates and identify incentives for collection, reuse, and/or recycling. The focus of the project will be to identify the problems and opportunities of collecting, reusing and/or recycling ocean-bound (plastic) waste. Bilaterally, these efforts will be supported by identifying the blue and green SMEs within the Region, including relevant environmental NGOs, knowledge institutions/technical universities and maritime clusters, which will either identify and/or co-create innovative collection methodologies of land- and sea-based flows of plastic waste. This approach will improve the awareness level of the ecosystem challenges within the SBS across the quadruple helix. As an added value, it will also stimulate the innovative levels of blue and green SMEs within the program region, as how to collect and recycle macro litter plastic waste, which will contribute to the longevity and securing usage of the macro litter plastic waste, post-collection.

Website: https://southbaltic.eu/

Thematic information

Innovation capacity and awareness-raising SME and entrepreneurship Waste and pollution

Priority: (VI-A_SB_2) Sustainable South Baltic - promoting sustainable development and blue and green economy

Priority specific objective: RSO2.6. Promoting the transition to a circular and resource efficient economy

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 075 Support to environmentally-friendly production processes and resource efficiency in SMEs

Partners (9)

Lead Partner: CLEAN Cluster

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DK29727538

Address: Frederiksborgvej , 4000 Roskilde Roskilde, Denmark

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Enterprise, except SME

Total budget: EUR 482 000.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 385 600.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 96 400.00

City of Gdansk - Gdansk Sports Center

Name: City of Gdansk - Gdansk Sports Center

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 5830010579

Address: Romualda Traugutta, 80-221 Gdańsk, Poland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Total budget: EUR 244 500.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 195 600.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 48 900.00

Gdansk Water Foundation

Name: Gdansk Water Foundation

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 5831018554

Address: Równa, 80-067 Gdańsk, Poland

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Total budget: EUR 84 900.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 67 920.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 16 980.00

Uniwersytet Gdański

Name: Uniwersytet Gdański

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 5840203239

Address: Jana Bażyńskiego, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Total budget: EUR 163 152.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 130 521.60

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 32 630.40

Universität Rostock

Name: Universität Rostock

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE 137385436

Address: Universitätsplatz, 18055 Rostock, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Total budget: EUR 258 982.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 207 185.60

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 51 796.40

Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research

Name: Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE285239914

Address: Seestrasse, 18119 Rostock, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Total budget: EUR 388 481.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 310 784.80

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 77 696.20

Sustainable Business Hub Scandinavia AB

Name: Sustainable Business Hub Scandinavia AB

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE556641295201

Address: Nordenskiöldsgatan, 21119 Malmö, Sweden

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Enterprise, except SME

Total budget: EUR 216 500.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 173 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 43 300.00

The Foundation Plast Center Denmark

Name: The Foundation Plast Center Denmark

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DK27210678

Address: Niels Bohrs Vej , 6700 Esbjerg - Region South Jutland , Denmark

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Business support organisation

Total budget: EUR 458 458.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 366 766.40

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 91 691.60

Ocean Plastic Forum

Name: Ocean Plastic Forum

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DK39860910

Address: Sankt Annæ Plads, 1250 Copenhagen, Denmark

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Total budget: EUR 230 500.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 184 400.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 46 100.00

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP)

Project acronym: Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP)

Project ID: STHB.02.03-IP.01-0006/23

Project start date: 2023-09-01

Project end date: 2026-08-31

Project status: ongoing

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 2 527 473.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 2 021 978.40

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 80.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 2 021 978.40. Co-financing rate, 80.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 001 - Enterprises supported (of which: micro, small, medium, large), Measurement unit:
RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 004 - Enterprises with non-financial support, Measurement unit:

Programme Output Indicator:

ISO003 - Number of common actions promoting exchanges between professional actors, Measurement unit: actions

Delivered output indicator(s):

(RCO004Interreg) Enterprises with non-financial support: 20.0
(RCO116) Jointly developed solutions: 1.0

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:

Delivered result indicator(s):

(RCR104) Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations: 1.0

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-A Poland-Denmark-Germany-Lithuania-Sweden (South Baltic)

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-04-11

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

34 / 42 (80.95%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

250 / 308 (81.17%)

Notes on the data

Languages

Contact Form

Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP)

Description

Thematic information

Partners (9)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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