Toolkit for marine litter retention projects

February 2015

MARELITT Toolkit for marine litter projects

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. ABOUT THE TOOLKIT Pg. 01 About the guidance in this Toolkit Pg. 02 II. WHY A MARINE LITTER RETENTION PROJECT? Pg. 04

III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT Writing your project plan Pg. 05 Your local situation Pg. 06

Objectives Pg. 08 Expected outcomes Pg. 10 Project budget Pg. 11 IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

Lead organisation Pg. 13 Enlisting fishermen Pg. 14 Fishermen’s responsibilities Pg. 16 Port authorities Pg. 17

Waste management companies Pg. 18

V. IMPLEMENTING YOUR PROJECT Planning the implementation of your project Pg. 19 Litter collection Pg. 20 Litter reception Pg. 22

Recycling and disposal Pg. 23 Project communication Pg. 24

Raising awareness of marine litter Pg. 25 Monitoring marine litter Pg. 26

Complementary activities Pg. 28

VI. PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION Pg. 29

VII. FUNDING FOR YOUR PROJECT Funding strategy Pg. 30 Motivation for project sponsors Pg. 31

Applying for EU funding Pg. 34 Other funding options Pg. 36

MARELITT tools:

Project plan template

Situation analysis checklist

Excel budget template for marine litter retention projects

Marine litter retention project - Leaflet template for fisherman

Letter of engagement template

Checklist for initial marine litter retention project meeting

Marine litter monitoring sheet template

Identifying EU funding options for your project – Getting started

Potential EU funding sources for marine litter projects

Photo Credits: Per-Olof Larsson; Merili Pokasaar ©Keep the Estonian Sea Tidy; Wim van Breusegem; Vasiliki Varvaki ©iStock.

I. ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

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This Toolkit is for anyone who wants to set up a marine litter retention project. You might

be an organisation, such as an NGO, a fishermen’s association or a local or regional public

organisation, or you might be an individual who is committed to setting up a project in

your local community. This Toolkit will support you in the planning and implementation of

your project. The Toolkit does not provide a single recipe for how you should develop your

project. Instead, it will point out some important issues you should think of when setting

up your project and provide advice on how to overcome problems that organisations often

face when setting up marine litter retention projects.

Marine litter retention projects are initiatives in which fishermen voluntarily bring ashore

the litter they collect in their nets during their regular fishing activities. They land the litter

in ports for treatment by a waste management company. Marine litter retention projects

differ from other marine litter projects, as they are focused on the litter that fishermen

collect during their regular activities. Other marine litter removal projects include marine

litter collection projects, during which fishermen make special purpose trips to collect

litter, and derelict fishing gear (DFG) retrieval projects, during which fishermen make

special purpose trips to retrieve DFG (which is covered by the MARELITT toolkit for DFG

projects, available for download at the MARELITT website). These projects can be

combined with other activities, such as beach cleaning, diving for litter, etc. This Toolkit

does not specifically cover these other types of marine litter projects and these additional

activities.

The Toolkit covers different steps that should be taken to set up a marine litter retention

project. These steps are suggested based on MARELITT’s assessment of good practices in

existing marine litter projects in the European Union. The Planning section of this Toolkit

focuses on the first steps you should take in planning your project, such as understanding

your local situation, defining the objectives for your project and preparing your project

budget. It also provides you with a template for the main project planning tool: your

project plan. The Project participants section helps you to engage stakeholders in your

project and describes their potential roles in the project. The Implementation section

provides practical advice on each stage of a marine litter retention project, from collecting

the litter to managing how it will be disposed of or recovered once it is returned to shore.

The Project monitoring and evaluation section sets out basic ideas on how to keep track

of your project’s results. Finally, the Funding section provides guidance on how to seek

funding and approach sponsors for your project.

The Toolkit also provides a set of tools, including templates, which you can tailor to the

specifics of your project. These tools are provided as downloadable attachments.

I. ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

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About the guidance in this Toolkit

MARELITT is an EU-funded project that was aimed at identifying and disseminating good

practices for the removal of litter and derelict fishing gear from the sea. During 2013 and

2014, the MARELITT team assessed all European marine litter retention projects (12

projects), as well as other marine litter projects. MARELITT has also supported the

initiation of new marine litter and derelict fishing gear projects in seven countries in

Europe’s four regional seas. The guidance in this Toolkit is based on the best practices

identified through the assessment of existing projects and the lessons learnt through

supporting new projects.

During 2013, the MARELITT team assessed the following marine litter retention projects:

North East Atlantic

Vuilvis Project Den Helder, led by MAIN (Maritieme Afvalstoffen Inzameling

Nederland) on behalf of the North Sea Directorate of Rijkswaterstaat (NL)

Fishing for Litter South West, led by KIMO South West (UK)

Fishing for Litter Scotland, led by KIMO Scotland (UK)

Fishing for Litter Netherlands, led by KIMO The Netherlands (NL)

Programme Macro-déchets (Aquitaine), led by the Institute of Aquatic

Environments (FR)

Contrats Bleus in Brittany, led by Ar Mor Glaz (FR)

Nada Pola Borda, led by CETMAR (ES)

Pescal (esca Sostenible Caladeros Limpios), led by CETMAR (ES)

Baltic Sea

Fishing for Litter Baltic Sea, led by KIMO Baltic Sea (SE)

Meere ohne Plastik, led by NABU (DE)

Mediterranean Sea

Contrats Bleus, Mediterranean Sea, led by F2DP (FR)

Memorandum of Understanding for Fishing for Litter (Palma Mallorca), led by San

Pedro de Palma Fishermen Association (ES)

In 2014, the MARELITT team supported the initiation of four marine litter retention pilot

projects:

I. ABOUT THE TOOLKIT

North East Atlantic

Ireland, led by the Irish Fisheries Board (BIM)

Mediterranean Sea

Croatia, led by the Centre for Marine Research

Italy, led by OLPA

Black Sea

Bulgaria, led by UBBSLA

A marine litter retention project can involve one or two ports and fewer than twenty

fishermen, or can be a region-wide project, involving a larger number of fishermen and

ports. There is no minimum size for a marine litter retention project; you can choose to set

up a small and local project or a regional one, depending on your local situation and your

resources.

II. WHY A MARINE LITTER PROJECT?

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Marine litter retention projects provide an opportunity to bring together all key

participants – fishermen, port authorities and waste management companies – to think

about solutions to integrate marine litter in the fishing ports’ waste management systems,

and in the long-term, to make it common practice.

Marine litter retention projects provide an opportunity to directly involve fishermen in the

reduction of marine litter. Fishermen are the first witnesses of the environmental harm

caused by marine litter when they catch litter in their nets. Marine litter directly impacts

fishermen’s livelihoods as it can damage fish stocks, damage fishing gear and waste the

time of fishermen in clearing nets of litter. Marine litter retention projects are an effective

way of promoting fishermen’s role as guardians of the marine environment, helping them

contribute to protecting their working environment and reducing the marine litter problem

in their fishing area.

The results of marine litter retention projects are not only about the number of tons of

litter removed from the sea – they can also encourage changes to attitudes and working

practices in the fishing industry. Marine litter projects can contribute to industry-wide

changes so that fishermen no longer routinely discard marine litter caught in their nets at

sea. This still widespread practice is mostly a result of the limited storage capacity on board

as well as the potential additional costs for specific waste receptacles and fees for landing

the litter in ports. Marine litter projects can help remove these financial and practical

obstacles that prevent fishermen from retaining marine litter on board their vessels and

discharging it in an environmentally sound manner. The projects do this by setting up an

effective waste management system in fishing ports, so that fishermen can discharge

marine litter at no additional charge to them.

Marine litter retention projects can also contribute to improved information about the

amount and distribution of marine litter without causing additional negative impacts on

the marine environment (such as additional fuel burning, additional by-catch and harm to

the seafloor that might result from dedicated information collection activities). This

improved information can help inform policy measures that aim to reduce marine litter

and to improve its management.

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III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

Writing your project plan

The best way to begin a project is to prepare a project plan. This will record the steps of

your project in a written document. This project plan will set out your project’s context, its

objectives, activities and required human, financial and other resources. A project plan will

help you to move your project forward by providing a timeline for your project, by clearly

defining who will do what and by making sure you stay focused on the objectives of your

project. It will also provide a clear, convincing justification for your project, and will be

indispensable for communicating with all people and organisations who will participate in

your project.

A template for your project plan is available for download. This template can be

modified according to the needs of your project. The sections below in this

Toolkit provide further detailed guidance on the project plan template.

III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

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Your local situation

Understanding your local situation will be the starting point for your project plan. Before

planning the tasks and activities of your project, you should have a clear understanding of

the local fishing industry, the marine litter problem and how it is currently managed in

your area. This ‘situation analysis’ will help you to develop objectives and select project

activities that allow you to meet these objectives and that fit well for the area where you

will implement your project. It will also help you to identify in advance potential obstacles

and challenges that you will be faced with in the implementation of the project. For

instance, if your situation analysis shows that there is very little awareness of marine litter

among fishermen and port authorities, awareness-raising should be an important

component of your project. If the fishing ports in your area do not have adequate waste

reception facilities that also accept marine litter, litter management will be a key issue for

your project.

A Marine Litter Retention Project Situation Analysis checklist is available for

download. This checklist will take you through the questions you should consider in

analysing your local situation. This will help to ensure you have identified the key

issues that will impact the planning or implementation of your project. Using this

checklist, you can describe and document your local project situation. You can use

the Project Situation and Need section of the Marine Litter Retention Project Plan

Template to document this situation analysis.

This analysis will include:

A description of the factors affecting the project area. These will include the marine

litter problem in your project area; the main sources of marine litter; the fishing

industry (number of vessels, type of fisheries, fishing areas, level of activity,

economic importance of the sector, etc.); the port infrastructure (relevant ports,

litter reception facilities, existing waste management practices); marine litter

initiatives already undertaken; and the policy context.

A description of the people and organisations that may have an impact on your

project. This may include a list of the relevant port organisations or managing

authorities; an overview of companies dealing with waste management at the ports

and in the area; a list of fishermen’s associations; relevant local or regional

authorities; and potential sources of funding.

You will probably need to speak to local stakeholders to gather this information. For

example, fishermen’s associations may be able to provide information on how many

vessels are registered in each port, the type of fishing method mostly applied, etc.

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III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

It is also important to consider any on-going or completed projects on marine litter in the

area, even if they do not deal with marine litter retention in the same way as your project

(for example, beach cleaning, diving for litter). This will help you to identify possible project

partners and sources of information. This may include relevant initiatives carried out by

your local or regional authority. Such an overview can also help you to determine the level

of awareness of stakeholders.

III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

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Objectives

When establishing a marine litter retention project, it is very important to define the

overall and specific objectives of your project. The objectives will give your project

a direction and will allow you to focus your efforts on your intended results. The objectives

of your project should be based on your local project situation and should be realistic given

your potential resources.

The overall objective is the broader impact to which your project will contribute. An

obvious overall objective would be “Improving the marine environment in the intervention

area by reducing marine litter.” This overall objective would also contribute to the

objective of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) of ‘achieving good

environmental status’ for Europe’s marine waters by 2020 by helping to ensure that

‘properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine

environment’ (MSFD Descriptor 10).

Your project might also have a number of specific objectives that will support your project

in meeting its overall objective. Your specific objectives should be SMART: specific,

measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound goals for the project. (The next section of

the Toolkit provides guidance on how you can measure your progress on the objectives for

the project.) The level of ambition of your specific objectives can vary greatly depending on

your local situation and on what you think is achievable given your research and the

cooperation of other participants in the project. For example, specific project objectives

may include:

Promoting behavioural change in the fishing sector

Your project might aim at raising the awareness of participating fishermen and

reaching as many fishermen as possible by increasing the number of vessels that

participate in the intervention area. You might aim at having fishermen’s

associations promoting marine litter retention as a good practice that may even be

integrated into an environmental management system or in a sustainable seafood

labelling or information scheme.

Achieving an effective management system for marine litter in all participating

ports

Depending on the system already in place in the fishing ports, your objective might

be to integrate marine litter in the ports’ existing management system, or to go one

step further and promote recycling of marine litter. If there are no reception

facilities in some ports, the objective can be to create a waste management system

in these ports.

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III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

Raising awareness of marine litter issues and reducing the impact of marine litter on

the tourism industry in the intervention area

Depending on the characteristics of your intervention area, you might conduct

awareness-raising activities targeting the sources of marine litter in the area and

the public [for more information on this, refer to the guidance on awareness-raising

in section 5].

Improving understanding of the characteristics of the marine litter problem in the

intervention area

Your project might aim to study the marine litter retained by fishermen to collect

information on sources of litter, composition, location and volumes by analysing a

sample of the marine litter that is being landed. Even though it is recognised that

marine litter retention projects can be difficult to combine with monitoring because

of their non-systematic sampling, these projects can still result in information that

can be used by policymakers and other stakeholders in developing measures to

improve marine litter management.

Throughout the project, you will need to revisit your specific objectives periodically and

measure what you have achieved. A revision of the specific objectives may be needed for

example to take into account new information, such as the emergence of additional

partners, or to match the requirements of specific funding sources. This is discussed in

more detail in the section on project monitoring (section 6).

III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

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Expected outcomes

Defining a set of expected results will help you to monitor whether your project is on track

to meeting its objectives – the expected results should therefore be aligned with the

project objectives. Indicators are quantitative or qualitative factors or variables that

provide a means of measuring achievement of objectives (and therefore of results). When

possible, the results should be specified using quantitative indicators as these enable

clearer targeting and tracking. If this is not practical, results can be described in a

qualitative manner. You will find some examples for indicators below as well as in the

project plan template. Targets can also be set by setting out the value for each indicator

that you expect to achieve in your project by a given point in time. Targets are often

broken down by year, and can start off quite modest and grow each year.

The list below provides examples of expected results, qualitative and quantitative

indicators that you could use in a marine litter retention project:

Expected result: Fishermen collect marine litter.

o Indicator: Number of vessels participating in the project

Target: A certain number of vessels by the end of the first year of the

project; an increased number by the end of the second year of the

project, etc.

o Vessel participation rate (calculation method: number of participating vessels

divided by total number of vessels registered in the participating ports)

Target: X % of all vessels in the intervention area participates in the

project by the end of the first year of the project, X% by the end of the

second year etc.

Expected result: Marine litter is removed from the sea.

o Indicators:

Tons of marine litter collected under the project

Tons of marine litter collected per vessel (calculation method: tons of

marine litter divided by number of vessels).

Expected result: Marine litter is managed in an environmentally sound manner.

o Indicators:

% of ML disposed of at a licensed engineered landfill

% of ML incinerated in a licensed facility with energy recovery

% of ML recycled.

Expected result: Improved knowledge of the type and location of marine litter in the

area.

Expected result: Better community awareness of the causes and impacts of the

marine litter problem in the area.

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III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

Project budget

The cost of a marine litter retention project will vary greatly depending on the size of the

project (number of ports and vessels participating), the communication activities

undertaken, the number of staff involved, the labour costs, the waste management system

already in place and the amounts of litter landed. The costs of the project coordinator and

waste treatment are likely to be the most significant cost items. These costs might be

covered by an in-kind contribution from your own organisation and a waste management

company that you involve, as well as from national or international grants or other funding

sources. See the section on Funding for your project (section 7) for more details on this.

An Excel template costs sheet is available for download to help you track different

types of costs, covering capital, operating and set-up costs. For each, example

types of costs and figures are given to illustrate how the template works. These

examples should be replaced with the actual cost types and amounts for the

project. By clicking on the cells in the template, you will see that many of them

contain formulas; this means numbers are calculated automatically to facilitate

the preparation of your project budget. In other cases, the value of a cell is simply

transferred to a cell in another sheet so that changes are directly reflected in all

necessary places and summary figures are adjusted (a letter-number combination

in the cell such as “B2” helps to identify these cells). If you change the structure of

the budget you will have to take this into account; you might simply delete some

of the formulas or copy them where necessary. The figures in the Excel sheet

represent a hypothetical and very simplified project – you will see that some costs

are not reflected. These figures are for illustrative purposes and you will need to

modify and adapt them according to your project.

Capital equipment: This part of the template allows for depreciation costs to be calculated

and considers whether the equipment is pre-owned or purchased for the purpose of the

project. ‘Depreciation’ allows you to calculate the loss in value of an asset, such as

equipment, over the lifetime of the asset so that these costs can be claimed as costs of

your project. If equipment is used for other purposes, the template allows you to calculate

the costs of the equipment for the time that it is dedicated to your project.

Operating expenses: These are the recurring costs that the project will have over its

lifetime. Expenses such as management staff, supplies, materials, fees, etc. are included

here. It is important to distinguish whether the amount of these costs is fixed (for example,

project management time) or variable according to the number of fishermen participating

or amount of marine litter collected (for example, the cost of waste containers (‘big bags’)

or waste management fees).

III. PLANNING YOUR PROJECT

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Set-up costs: These are one-off costs that will occur only at the beginning of the project

rather than on a regular basis. In the case of marine litter retention projects, these set-up

costs may include the extra staff working time needed during the planning of the project.

They will need to be amortised (spread) across the lifetime of the project in order to get an

accurate understanding of project costs per year. The template allows you to spread out

these costs over the course of your project.

A Summary page for total figures is provided in the Excel sheet. The costs there are copied

from the three previous worksheets accordingly.

Your project budget will be the basis for developing your funding strategy and approaching

potential project sponsors. You will find more guidance on this in section 7.

The Excel sheet referred to above sets out the cost structure of a hypothetical project running for four years. Initial set-up costs are estimated at €14,450, including staff costs and operating expenses. The subsequent annual costs are composed of staff costs (2 people, full time and part time, 1 external expert for 5 days per year: €81,900 per year), operating expenses (rental of facilities, purchase of 80 big bags per month, waste management: €29,600 per year), depreciation of capital equipment (office equipment, containers for marine litter reception: €5,270 per year) and the amortisation of set-up costs. This adds up to total project costs of €481,350 for the four-year period (€122,000 per year). As mentioned above, this hypothetical financial structure can vary substantially. One of the projects assessed by the MARELITT project reported costs of around €48,000 for one year of project duration (including promotional material, containers, waste management costs, labour costs).

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Lead organisation

The lead organisation establishing a marine litter retention project is usually responsible

for the day-to-day management of the project and the coordination of participants. In

general, this may require the following:

establishing a management team or coordinator

developing a project plan, including indicators and targets for monitoring and

evaluation

identifying and contacting other participants in the project

developing agreements with other project participants

identifying and securing resources for the project

sourcing and ordering supplies (bags, containers, etc.) and distributing them

developing guidelines or organising meetings for participating fishermen

recruiting fishermen to participate in the project

monitoring and evaluating project progress and results and preparing any required

reports (e.g. to funding sources or other supervisory bodies)

reflecting on the results of monitoring and evaluation reports and modifying the

project approach as appropriate.

The success of your project will depend on the daily management of the project and on

regular contact with participating fishermen, either through individual contact with the

vessels or through fishermen’s organisation. Appointing a coordinator to be responsible

for the day-to-day management of the project will help you to ensure its overall success.

Depending on the size and demands of your project, this person may be a full-time

coordinator specifically employed to manage the project. For smaller projects, the

coordinator role may only be a part-time role.

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Enlisting fishermen

Involving fishermen during the first planning stages of a project is key to securing their

participation throughout the duration of the project. This will help ensure that they have a

sense of ownership of the project and they are committed to participating. If you don’t

already have contacts with fisherman, making contact with local fishing associations is a

good first step. Even if you already have existing contacts with local fishermen, getting in

touch with local fishermen’s associations can help you to encourage fishermen to

participate and might extend your project to more ports.

A leaflet template that can be used to communicate with fishermen about your

project is available for download and can be tailored to your project.

When communicating with fishermen, it is important to remember that their participation

in the project is voluntary and fishermen are not financially compensated for their efforts.

You will need to focus on the potential benefits for fishermen of participating in a project

and appeal to the important role of fishermen as guardians of the sea. Discussing with

fishermen the negative impact of marine litter on their activity, their fishing ground and

more generally on the marine environment may help to engage them in the project.

Fishermen have a strong interest in reducing the impact of marine litter – marine litter can

contaminate fish stocks and damage fishing gear and nets. Their participation in the

project can also provide public recognition of the role that fishermen can play in

improving the marine environment. In some cases, participating in a marine litter

retention project might assist fishing vessels in obtaining accreditation under a sustainable

seafood certification or labelling scheme.

You can emphasise that your project will support their efforts by limiting the cost and

burden of their participation in the project. For example, big bags (flexible intermediate

bulk containers) for collecting marine litter should be distributed to them for free.

Fishermen should also be able to discharge the marine litter free of charge in the ports.

It is also important when you talk to fishermen to keep in mind the distinction between

ship-generated waste, which vessels must manage in compliance with environmental

regulations, and the litter they collect in their nets at sea. Your project aims to promote

and support good waste management practices on fishing vessels for all waste, whether it

is generated on board or collected at sea. Fishermen understand that they have a clear

obligation to manage the waste they generate on board, but some may be reluctant to

take on the responsibility of managing the marine litter caught in their nets. When

discussing your marine litter retention project with fishermen, be sure to keep these two

issues separate.

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Investing time in regular contact with fishermen’s organisations is crucial throughout the

project to maintain motivation and check their satisfaction with the implementation of

the project on the ground. If practical given the size of your project and your resources,

you might wish to work with fishermen’s organisations to organise a meeting or event

once or twice a year to discuss the project with all participating fishermen.

Existing projects have shown that you can build the motivation of fishermen by providing

them with public recognition their involvement in the project. Flags, t-shirts or stickers

with the logo of the project can provide public recognition to individual fishermen and

vessels, contribute to a sense of community ownership among participants and build a

positive public image of fishermen as custodians of the marine environment.

One of the projects assessed by the MARELITT team addressed the problem of marine litter bags being used for galley waste. In this project, when galley waste was found among marine litter, the lead organisation sent a letter to all participating vessels reminding them that only waste collected at sea should be placed in the bags.

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Fishermen’s responsibilities

The responsibilities of fishermen should be agreed before the start of the project.

Fishermen should be provided with a precise description of their tasks and guidance on

how to carry them out.

The general responsibilities of fishermen consist of: clearing litter from their nets;

depositing the collected litter in the big bags; and landing the bags at the port. Fishermen

could also be responsible for putting the bags in the allocated area at the port (for

example, in containers, dedicated storage areas or on the quay), depending on the

arrangements made with the port authorities. Ports might also require fishermen to

provide information on the number of bags to be landed upon arrival at the port.

Fishermen should be able to store all marine litter in the big bags. Fishermen should not

be asked to sort the marine litter on board or in port, as this will discourage them from

participating in the project.

Keeping a register of participating fishermen and the practical arrangements agreed (for

example, with respect to handing out the big bags) throughout the project will help you to

support them and monitor the results of your project. To clarify responsibilities, it is

recommended that you formalise fishermen’s participation in the project by having them

sign an engagement letter defining their tasks and the rules they have to follow.

A model letter of engagement is available for download. The letter can be tailored

to the specifics of your project.

One of the conditions that fishermen must agree to is that they must only use the big bags

for disposing of marine litter and not for disposing of the waste generated on board.

Fishermen in many ports are required to pay a fee for disposing of waste generated on

board, so you will need to ensure that the big bags for marine litter are not used to

dispose of this waste. This will help you to ensure that your project does not carry the

financial burden of disposal of this waste. To this end, you could ask the waste

management company treating the waste to conduct random checks of big bags and

report back to you if they see instances of fishing vessels using the big bags to dispose of

waste generated on board. You could also from time to time carry out random visits on

vessels or in port to check the bags. However, you will need to ensure that your checks do

not impose additional burdens on fishermen and discourage them from participating. You

will need to strike a balance between ensuring that only marine litter is disposed of in the

big bags and maintaining the goodwill of fishermen who are collecting marine litter on a

voluntary basis. In cases where fishermen directly benefit from the scheme, for example,

in a seafood labelling scheme, then there may be a rationale for enforcing this

requirement more strictly.

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Port authorities

The involvement of port authorities is critical to the success of your project, and the

harbour masters will be key contacts in the implementation of your project. If your project

includes more than one port, different arrangements may be necessary with the different

port authorities, based on the arrangements for waste management in each port.

Waste management is often organised differently in different ports: waste facilities might

be owned and operated by the port authority, owned by the port authority but operated

by a private waste management company, or owned and operated by a private waste

manager. These arrangements can have a significant impact on waste reception and

storage and should be discussed with the harbour master of each port authority before

the start of the project. The section of this Toolkit on Litter reception provides more

detailed information on waste management arrangements for marine litter.

While the provision of waste reception facilities is required under the EU Port Reception

Facility Directive, you may be faced with a situation where a fishing port does not have

waste handling procedures and appropriate reception facilities in place. If you come

across this situation, don’t be discouraged – you may be able to reach an arrangement

that can benefit both your project and the port. You could discuss with the port authority

how they can support your project. The port authority could, for example, provide space

and containers for storing marine litter, arrange for the transport and treatment of marine

litter together with other waste brought by ships or produced at the port, or distribute the

big bags to participating fishermen. The port could benefit from this involvement through

improved waste management procedures and facilities in their port, potentially enabling

them to come into compliance with relevant national legislation.

Often ports will be keen to participate in marine litter retention projects to emphasise

their role in protecting the marine environment and to support the local community.

Publicising the role of port authorities in the project as part of your project’s

communications and promotional activities will help provide public recognition of the port

authority’s participation and encourage the port to support the project.

IV. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

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Waste management companies

Waste management companies, public or private, are often contracted by port authorities

to handle waste and transport it to treatment facilities. To avoid having to set up separate

waste management arrangements for marine litter from your project, it is best to

incorporate marine litter management within the existing waste management system in

the port. Therefore, it is recommended that you discuss with the port authority and the

waste management company how marine litter from your project can be dealt with under

the existing waste management arrangements.

The role of the waste management company will be to transport the marine litter from

the ports to the recycling or disposal facilities. If the waste management company is also

responsible for handling waste within the port, the company will also collect the big bags

on the quays and bring them to a dedicated storage area or container in the port, awaiting

transport to a treatment facility. In this case, if you intend to monitor the litter collected,

you will need to make suitable arrangements that allow for monitoring the quantity of

marine litter collected and for analysing a sample of the litter, if you also want to monitor

origin and composition. The waste management company may help you in this process by

weighing the big bags and analysing a sample of the marine litter collected. The section of

the Toolkit on Monitoring marine litter provides more details on this activity.

In principle, the waste management company will charge a fee for the additional cost of

handling and treating the marine litter collected under your project. However, it is worth

discussing with the waste management company whether it is willing to sponsor the

project by waiving or reducing this fee. If the waste management company is a public

entity – a consortium of local government authorities, for instance – it may fall under a

local policy initiative to reduce waste. This could motivate the waste management

company to support your project. A private company might also provide waste

management services free of charge as part of its corporate social responsibility activities.

Publicising the participation of the waste management company as part of your project’s

communications activities may help to secure and recognise the waste management

company’s contribution to your project.

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Planning the implementation of your project

To ensure that litter collection and reception in the ports goes smoothly, you will need to

arrange practical issues – such as who will deliver the big bags, where the bags will be

delivered, the timing and frequency of deliveries, the procedure for landing the bags –

before the start of the project. We recommend that you discuss these issues in a meeting

with the representatives of participating fishermen’s associations and the port authority’s

harbour master. Holding a meeting in each participating port may be necessary if there

are different procedures for landing litter in the different ports or if the port authority is in

charge of distributing the bags. These meetings will help you to identify potential

problems that participants might encounter in their participation in the project. Often,

fishermen’s associations may have questions or concerns about particular issues such as

the space on vessels for the big bags or the flexibility of landing hours. These meetings will

help you to arrange these practical details in a way that works for all project participants.

A checklist for initial meetings with participants is available for download.

The results of these discussions can be wrapped up and communicated to all participating

fishermen at a kick-off meeting. Practical details can also be compiled in a short guidance

document to be handed out to fishermen during the kick-off meeting.

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Litter collection

Other than the bags that are used to store and transport marine litter, no specific

equipment is needed for litter collection. The lead organisation should ensure fishermen

are provided with containers. In most marine litter retention projects, the lead

organisation provides the bags directly to the fishermen. If fishermen or port authorities

already have already bags that they are willing to use, it is important to check if they are

solid enough to carry the litter. If bags are not solid enough they will be damaged more

easily, which will create logistical issues and will slow down litter collection.

Photo: Marine litter collection on board, using a big bag (Source: Bord Iascaigh Mhara)

The bags do not have to be specifically designed or manufactured for the project. Most

marine litter projects use flexible intermediate bulk containers, commonly referred to as

big bags, which are provided to fishermen by the lead organisation. These big bags can be

purchased from a number of suppliers, including, for example, hardware stores and online

suppliers. If your project involves vessels of different sizes, you might offer fishermen

several sizes of bags – smaller vessels may need smaller bags to ensure fishermen have

enough free space on board during fishing trips. Typical big bags used for marine litter

retention projects measure L90 x W90 x H90 cm and have a weight capacity of 200

kilogrammes, and a volume of 100 litres. The bags are usually made of polypropylene, for

greater strength, and can be reused several times. You can have the logo of the project,

and of project sponsors, printed on the big bags. This can promote your project, help to

ensure bags are returned for reuse and also facilitate monitoring of marine litter as the

bags will be easily recognisable.

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You should ensure that fishermen have regular and easy access to the big bags.

Integrating the distribution of bags into to the fishing vessel’s existing activities in port will

make it easier for fishermen to participate. You should discuss this with your contacts in

the fishing association to identify the best time to distribute bags. The frequency of

distribution will depend on the type and size of vessels and how much litter they typically

collect in each haul. Larger vessels, which do longer trips, are likely to need more bags

than small-scale fishing vessels.

The removal of marine litter does not require specific skills or experience, and does not

require a change in crew size. However, some extra time will be required to remove the

litter from the nets, to deposit it in the big bags and to put the big bags on the quays.

In one project, big bags of 100x100x100cm were provided to trawlers, bags of 45x45x60cm were distributed to smaller vessels and bags of 32x29x43cm to small-scale fishing vessels. In other marine litter projects, fishermen have used plastic or metal containers. This approach is more adapted to larger vessels.

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Litter reception

No special equipment is needed to unload the big bags. The equipment usually used to

unload the fish can be used to unload the big bags and put them on the quay. The bags

will then need to be taken to the existing waste reception facilities in the port. Either

fishermen will take the bags to reception facilities themselves or staff from the port

authority or waste management company will take the bags to the reception facilities.

Who takes the bags to the waste reception facilities will depend on what is agreed with

the port authority during the project set-up and the normal arrangements for handling

waste from vessels in the port. We recommend that you make sure the arrangements for

handling marine litter are the same as the normal arrangements for handling the fishing

vessels’ own waste.

If, under your project, fishermen have to take their big bags to reception facilities,

arranging with the port authority that the litter can be stored in the same area as ship-

generated waste will prevent fishermen having to go to two different places to land their

waste. However, keep in mind that you will want to ensure that the marine litter is kept

separate in the big bags to allow for proper monitoring of the litter collected.

If fishermen are responsible for taking their bags to reception facilities, they need to have

flexible access to the containers. If possible, fishermen should have 24/7 access to

reception facilities, as fishing vessels come back to the port at any hour of the day and

during the weekend. If this cannot be arranged with the port authority, a mixed system

enabling fishermen to leave the bags on the quay when containers are not accessible may

be a suitable alternative.

As big bags can be reused for several litter collections, you should make arrangements

with the waste management companies to have your empty bags returned to the port.

One project handled the issue of access to waste reception facilities by providing participating fishermen with individual keys to open the containers used to store waste in the port. This made access to the containers easy and convenient for fishermen at any time of the day.

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Recycling and disposal

Recycling as much of the collected waste as possible may be an important objective for

your project. If so, you should discuss waste treatment and recycling options with the

waste management company contracted by participating ports. Although you may not

have a lot of scope for changing their waste treatment procedures, cost-effective recycling

options for at least some categories of marine litter could be agreed with the waste

management company. If the waste management company does not have a recycling

solution, you could possibly, as lead organisation, investigate other recycling options that

could work in your local situation. By continuing discussions with your waste management

company, you might be able to reach a solution to recycle some of the marine litter from

your project.

One of the projects assessed by the MARELITT team aims to bring the collected marine litter back into the material circle by recycling as many waste fractions as possible. As a first step, the collected litter is manually separated and sorted by project partners on a yearly basis (previously a national take-back system for packaging waste, now regional waste management companies) to determine the exact composition and if possible the origin of litter items. The initial results from the North Sea suggest that around 75% are plastics including fishing nets; the rest consists of metals, rubber, textiles, wood or paper. Metal fractions go directly into recycling. As a second step, the plastic fractions are analysed with regards to their recyclability and quality loss by a specialised university department, who is a partner in the project. The first results of this analysis will be available at the beginning of 2015. The design of special products made from marine litter is envisaged as part of the project.

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Project communication

Strong project communications will keep your participants and project team engaged and

motivated and will help you to attract new participants or sponsors. Consider how you will

communicate key project information to the other participants in your project over the

lifetime of the project, particularly fishermen, port authorities, waste management

companies and anyone providing financial or in-kind support to the project. To

communicate with participants, you may wish to use the following communication tools:

Meetings: For example, you might wish to hold regular meetings with the port

authorities and fishing associations to provide updates on new developments in the

project and collect their feedback on the project. These regular meetings don’t

necessarily need to be held in person; they could also be held by phone or over

Skype.

Leaflets or newsletters: For example, you might wish to issue a project newsletter

to communicate with fishermen or regularly update your project leaflet to ensure

that it contains the most recent information for fishermen.

Email: For example, rather than holding meetings, you could provide regular

updates to port authorities and others by email.

Website: For example, you might have a website to communicate about your

project to the broader public, but this could also be used to provide practical

information, such as contact details, to project participants.

A strategy to communicate your project to the broader public can make use of a wide

variety of communication channels, such as participating in community events, workshops

and conferences, publications, social media and press releases to the local media. You

might also wish to develop a logo for your project to provide visual recognition. Some EU

funds have precise requirements in terms of project communication, which you will need

to be aware of if you receive these funds. For example, the LIFE programme requires an

independent project website, so a page dedicated to the project on your organisation’s

website will not be sufficient. The website should be written in your local language, but

for some EU funds, it might be a requirement to have also the website available in English.

More tips on project communication tools can be found on the LIFE programme website.

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Raising awareness of marine litter

While strong project communications might help you to raise awareness about marine

litter, awareness-raising about the problem of marine litter may be a specific objective of

your project. To do so, an awareness-raising strategy should be developed, with the aim

to build awareness about the problem of marine litter and encourage changes in

behaviour to prevent marine litter. Awareness-raising activities go beyond the participants

in a marine litter project by targeting people whose behaviours contribute to the problem

of marine litter in your area. This will usually mean targeting those who litter on shore or

discharge litter at sea. In regions where marine litter comes primarily from the maritime

and fishing industry, this will mean targeting the shipping or aquaculture industries. In

regions where tourism and recreational activities are major sources of litter, your

awareness-raising activities will be focused on tourists and the general public.

Developing an awareness-raising strategy includes defining clear and measurable

objectives and a set of tailored messages, activities and products to achieve these

objectives. The first step will be to identify the context and the problem you want to

alleviate. In particular, you need to identify the main contributors to the marine litter

problem in your region. Monitoring the marine litter collected by your project may help

you to do this. You will then be able to define your target audience, objectives, and

develop appropriate messages and activities for each target audience.

Your marine litter retention project can be used as an opportunity and a vehicle to raise

awareness of the problem and impacts of marine litter, by attracting attention to the

marine litter problem. Communicating about the impacts and successes of your project

will help to raise awareness of marine litter in general.

One of the projects assessed by MARELITT targeted boaters, tourists, students of fishing schools. Flyers and plastic bags were distributed to boaters, encouraging them to dispose of their litter responsibly. Posters explaining the biodegradability of products in the sea were placed on the beaches to attract tourists’ attention. Students from a local fishing school participated in the disassembling and sorting of collected fishing gears in harbours to be sent for recycling.

One of the projects assessed by the MARELITT team organises public monitoring demonstrations every two years in which 20-30 bags are publicly sorted and analysed, to illustrate the marine litter problem and to make it more tangible to a wider audience. This also provides public recognition of the efforts of the fishermen who collect marine litter.

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Monitoring marine litter

Monitoring the marine litter collected by your project will require you to collect

information about the origin, amount and composition of the waste that fishermen return

to port. The information collected can be used to evaluate the results of your project (see

section 6 on project monitoring), to raise awareness about the marine litter problem and

your project, and to attract support for your project. It will also help you to more

efficiently manage your project in the future. For example, if you monitor the litter

collected during the first year of your project, you will be able to make better assumptions

on how much litter you can collect for the next years. You may also learn more about the

sources of marine litter, and be able to better target your awareness-raising activities. If

you prepare any reports on your projects for policymakers (for example, local, regional or

national authorities) or research organisations, you could also integrate the results in your

reports so that these organisations can use the information in developing policy measures

and improving their understanding of the marine litter problem.

The information that you will collect will depend on the resources available for your

project and on the possible uses of the information. At the very least, you should monitor

the total amount (in weight and volume) of marine litter that is collected and, where

possible, the amount collected by each of the vessels. The waste management company

will most likely count and weigh the big bags for invoicing purposes. This will help you

keep track of the amount of marine litter collected. If you mark the bags and keep track of

which vessels receive which bags, you can also track the amount of litter collected by each

vessel.

You might also want to monitor the origin and the composition of the marine litter. This

will require a sample analysis of the content of a sufficiently large number of big bags at

specific intervals during the year. There are no accepted standards on the percentage of

the total marine litter collected needed to draw statistically meaningful conclusions on the

composition of the marine litter, but 10% seems to be a minimum. To support your

project’s monitoring activities, you could develop a simple sheet for the sample analysis.

When you organise your marine litter monitoring scheme, you should be realistic about

the type of information you can collect and think about the practical consequences for

your project – in terms of costs and resources. Also, you should only collect information

that will be subsequently used, for example to underpin awareness-raising campaigns or

policy measures. For example, if you are considering analysing a sample of the marine

litter to determine its origin by linking the amounts collected per vessel with the fishing

grounds where the vessels are active, this may allow you to draw conclusions on the

distribution of the litter. While this information might be very interesting, you should

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consider whether this information will be used. If the only use of the information is your

project’s report, it may not be worth the extra effort.

Your organisation could undertake the marine litter analysis alone or, ideally, with the

support of others, such as the waste management company or a research institute. In

general, fishermen should not be asked to participate in monitoring activities, due to the

burden this would place on their participation in the project.

More guidance on monitoring marine litter is provided in the Guidance on monitoring of

marine litter in European Seas (JRC, 2013), which was prepared by an expert group on

marine litter advising on the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

This document provides a master list of categories of litter items that might be

documented during marine litter monitoring activities, which could be used as the basis

for your monitoring sheet.

An example monitoring sheet, based on the European guidelines, is available for

download. This document can be adapted according to your local situation and

be used in your monitoring activities.

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Complementary activities

You should consider whether there are any opportunities to cooperate with other types of

marine litter projects in your local area. Your project might benefit from sharing efforts

and resources with other projects in areas such as joint management of the marine litter

collected or joint awareness campaigns.

Other types of projects that might be carried out in your local area include:

derelict fishing gear retrieval projects;

clean-up of port areas (mostly carried out by port authorities);

seasonal clean-ups of coastal waters (mostly by local authorities, sometimes with

vessels also used for oil spills);

research projects, under which marine litter is being collected with a view to better

understanding the problem;

diving for litter projects, carried out by diving clubs, local authorities or NGOs;

collection of floating litter near the shoreline, often carried out by local

governments;

beach clean-ups.

A number of initiatives provide guidance to organisations who wish to carry out these

activities. For example, the Ocean Initiatives’ Organizer’s Kit provides you with a protocol

to organise a local beach clean-up. Project Aware’s Dive Against Debris project provides

guidelines for conducting diving for litter initiatives, from choosing a diving site to

recording data. Detailed guidance on monitoring beach litter is provided in the Guidance

on monitoring of marine litter in European Seas (JRC, 2013) and the Marine Litter Watch

app helps volunteers report the marine litter they collect on beaches to a Europe-wide

database.

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Not to be confused with monitoring marine litter, project monitoring should be

understood here as a management tool. Project monitoring and evaluation is the process

of systematically collecting, recording and organising information about your project’s

activities and results. Regular project monitoring and evaluation will help you to assess the

impacts of your project and to identify lessons that can be used to improve future

projects. It will also help you to prove to any organisations providing funding or other

support that the project is on track to achieve what it plans to achieve and can help you to

complete reports that you may need to submit to financing authorities.

Setting the right indicators during the planning of your project will help you to monitor

your project. Indicators are quantitative or qualitative factors or variables that provide a

means to measure achievement of objectives. Section 3 provides guidance on setting

indicators.

During the project, you should record information related to the indicators and targets

you have defined in the project plan. Various means of data collection can be used,

depending on the type of data you need. You might collect information about the number

of participating fishermen and vessels or the amount and composition of marine litter

collected. You may even wish to survey fishermen on their attitude towards marine litter

before and after the project as an interesting way to measure whether their behaviour has

changed.

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Funding strategy

Developing a strategy for securing the funding that your organisation and partners cannot

provide internally will be a critical part of the preparation of your project. After preparing

your initial budget (see the guidance in section 3 on project budget), you will be able to

determine funding needs more precisely, including what can be provided by partner

organisations, including through in-kind contributions, and what needs to be funded by an

external source, such as a grant. A good funding strategy will consider all options for

contribution to the project costs. For example, some potentially large costs, such as waste

handling and treatment, can be provided through in-kind contribution by the waste

management company as a project partner. We use the term ‘project sponsors’ for those

contributing to your project by grant funding, corporate funding, in-kind or other.

The funding strategy will also depend very much on the project situation and the

availability of grant programmes from EU, national, regional or local public funds, as well

as options to attract funding from non-governmental sources such as foundations and

private sector stakeholders.

Your funding strategy should answer the following questions:

Who can potentially contribute? When thinking about who could contribute,

consider who contributes to the problem (sources of marine litter), who could help

to solve the problem and who has an interest in getting the problem solved. These

three categories of organisations may be ready to fund.

What external sources are available to meet the funding needs? What are their

requirements in terms of specific costs/budget item eligibility, timing, etc.?

What will be needed to develop funding proposals?

What are the terms of the available funding sources – can any of them support the

project over a longer period (e.g. more than one year)?

Are there any options for securing private sector funding? For example, through

financial support, in-kind support or revenue from recycling?

In one of the assessed projects, funding was provided by a total of nine national and local organisations. Industries, governments and non-profit organisations were included in the funding strategy. This broad range of sponsors was made possible through building strong relationships with current and future potential sponsors and the dissemination of 3-yearly and annual activity reports to keep sponsors updated on the project.

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Motivation for project sponsors

As mentioned above, there might be various reasons for organisations to sponsor your

project. This section provides key messages that you might want to emphasise when you

first meet with potential sponsors of your project.

Why should public sector organisations (EU, national government, regional and local

authorities, public waste management companies, tourism authorities) co-sponsor your

project (financially or in-kind)?

EU Member States have the obligation to achieve “good environmental status” for

their marine environment by 2020 under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive

(2008/56/EC). This includes the setting of binding targets on marine litter at the

national and/or regional level, which has happened to a varying degree (see Art. 12

assessment report). In its Communication “Towards a circular economy” the

Commission has set the aspirational target of 30% reduction by 2020 for the then

most common types of litter found on beaches, as well as for fishing gear found at

sea, with the list adapted to each of the four marine regions in the EU. Member

States will also have commitments under regional action plans on marine litter.

Supporting a marine litter retention initiative will help governments to reach these

objectives. Check your national Marine Strategy Programme of Measures (to be in

place by 2015) for more concrete elements on the national agenda. Contacting the

national entity responsible for the MSFD may help you to identify opportunities for

securing support for your project.

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive also aims to protect the resource base

upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. National,

regional and local authorities have an interest in clean marine waters and shores

since this will be beneficial for fishing activities, for the tourism sector as well as for

the livelihoods of local coastal communities. Marine litter poses specific threats to

the fishing industry, through the loss of fish stocks due to ghost fishing, spoiled

catches through contamination, and damage to nets and to propellers. Marine litter

might also pose risks to the aquaculture sector through damaged cages or

contaminated stock. The tourism sector is also impacted by marine litter through

aesthetic impacts and increased risks for marine-related leisure activities.

Local authorities can avoid costs for cleaning up shorelines, ports andharbours.

Public authorities have a responsibility to protect common goods such as public

health, safety and the environment. Marine litter causes threats to marine wildlife

due to digestion (over 180 species are known to ingest plastic debris),

entanglement and toxicological effects due to contamination. Marine litter can

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reduce the quality of bathing water, potentially causing hygiene problems, and

creates the risk of encountering hazardous materials to swimmers, divers and

snorkelers. Contamination of food due to indigestion of (micro-)plastics by fish has

been raised as a risk; however, further evidence is required to fully understand this

risk.

Marine litter is recognised as a growing global problem. Recent EU policy proposals

on a circular economy refer to necessary action to achieve a significant reduction of

marine litter – a commitment also made at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012 and in

the 7th Environmental Action Plan. While more comprehensive measures against

marine litter will be needed to tackle the problem on a global scale, supporting a

marine litter retention project is a concrete, immediate and symbolic opportunity

for public authorities to show their determination in fighting this global

phenomenon at the local level.

In addition to having a legal responsibility for managing waste from vessels, port

authorities receive income from the fishing sector. Sharing the responsibility with

the fishing sector for the costs of collecting marine litter may therefore be

appropriate.

Why should private sector companies co-sponsor your project (financially or in-kind)?

There are a number of reasons why companies might want to support a marine litter

project. If certain industries are seen as causing the marine litter problem, companies in

these sectors may want to be seen to be contributing to the solution. Other companies

may wish to provide support as part of their broader corporate social responsibility

programme. Some private sector companies may also wish to support your project if they

benefit directly or indirectly from cleaner seas and beaches.

Plastic producing companies will often be aware of the fact that the most abundant

type of marine litter is plastics (up to 80% on some shorelines). They might be

interested in supporting a marine litter retention project as part of their corporate

social responsibility (CSR) activities.

National or regional (packaging) waste collection and (plastic) recycling systems

might be interested in sponsoring given the links to their core business and

reputational effects. The better they perform and the larger their coverage, the

smaller the amount of litter eventually reaching water bodies. They might also

support efforts to monitor and analyse the collected waste fractions since this can

contribute to better knowledge about composition of marine waste and its optimal

treatment. Although collected quantities will probably be too low to create

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significant revenue from recycling, this potential for revenue could also create some

incentive to support your project.

For regional and local waste operators that are active in the area and in the port in

any case, sponsoring a marine litter retention project can be done in-kind without a

major additional effort, and could provide significant public recognition from the

local community.

The shipping industry (cargo, passengers, fishing, research) is a major marine-based

source of marine litter, even if dumping at the sea is forbidden (International

Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships: MARPOL 73/78; EU

legislation to prevent pollution from ships). Some shipping companies might thus

be willing to sponsor a project as part of their CSR activities and combine it with

awareness-raising in their company or within the sector.

Companies in the tourism sector (hotels, beach facilities, sailing or diving clubs) in

your area might be aware that tourist facilities and recreational visitors discarding

waste are a significant source of marine litter. They also base their business on a

clean, healthy and visually enjoyable environment. Initiatives to reduce marine

litter are thus in their interest and can be combined with awareness-raising

campaigns.

Aquaculture companies might suffer from contaminated stocks or damages of their

cages and might be willing to support a project on marine litter retention in their

area.

Restaurants and others purchasing fish from the region may be sensitive about the

quality of the products they buy. Contamination of fish due to plastics indigestion is

a topic which receives increasing public attention. Supporting a local marine litter

retention project might align with the promotional and high quality standard

practices of some operators.

Involving the private sector as sponsor for your project has, in many cases, the benefit of

strengthening the link between the concrete remediation activities of your project to a

sector that contributes to the problem or benefits from its solution. To motivate

companies to support your project, you might want to consider ways to provide public

recognition of the contributions of your sponsors (via media, logo, website, etc.). Further

information about this is provided in section 5 on Project communication.

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Applying for EU funding

European funds may be provided through either direct grants or indirect grants. Direct

grants include programmes that are managed by the European Commission and cover the

whole EU. Indirect grants support national and regional objectives are linked to national or

regional operational programmes and are managed by ministries or regional agencies. This

distinction will affect your choice of funding in many ways:

In terms of objectives, you may wish to adapt your project according to the priorities

of the national/regional operational programme.

In terms of competition, if you apply for a direct grant, you will be competing with

organisations in the whole EU. If you apply for an indirect grant, the competing

organisations will come from your Member State. You might decide to present a

joint project with some of these competing organisations in case of similar or

complementary project objectives.

In terms of language, if you apply directly to your ministry or agency you will write

your proposal in your national language. If you apply for a direct grant, you can write

your proposal in any EU official language, but English is strongly recommended.

Potential EU funds you may wish to consider for your marine litter retention projects are:

Direct grants: LIFE; Horizon 2020

Indirect grants: European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF); Cohesion Policy

Fund, in particular transnational cooperation programmes (INTERREG) funded by

the ERDF. On-going INTERREG operational programmes include, for example, the

Operational Programme North Sea Region, the Baltic Sea Region Programme and

the Adriatic Ionian Programme. New programmes are currently being developed and

most will be in place from 2015.

Other grant programmes: EEA Grants and Norway Grants (Estonia, Bulgaria, Greece,

Lithuania).

When you consider which funding opportunity is the best option for your project, consider

the geographical scope of your project. In some funding programmes, transnationality –

that is, a project that operates across more than one country – is a requirement. In other

programmes only national projects can be funded. If you intend to set up a multi-country

project, LIFE or transnational cooperation programmes are appropriate; the EMFF is not.

Other elements to consider are the minimum number of beneficiaries, eligible countries,

or co-financing rates.

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A table comparing different EU funding options as well as a flow chart to provide some guidance in a simplified format is available for download. Since some of the operational rules for the funding period 2014 to 2020 were not yet finalised at the time of preparing this Toolkit, you should make sure you get the latest available information from the websites listed below and national or regional contact points.

To help you with your proposal, or to ask questions about the types of project eligible for

funding, you can contact your national contact points or the national/regional funding

authority:

Life national contact points

EMFF national authorities

Horizon 2020 national contact points

Cohesion policy Funds national managing authorities.

Guidelines for applying to several funds are available on programme websites:

LIFE guidelines for applicants (here for 2014)

the Horizon 2020 online manual.

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Other funding options

Regional Seas Conventions

While the secretariats for the Regional Sea Conventions do not directly fund projects, they

do develop marine litter action plans. Countries that are contracting parties to the

conventions may then take actions under these plans or fund projects. These marine litter

action plans are a good starting point for more information about marine litter activities in

your region. The secretariats for the Regional Sea Conventions might also be a useful point

of contact for information about actions and initiatives that could fund marine litter

retention projects.

The four European Regional Sea Conventions are:

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment in the North-East

Atlantic of 1992 (further to earlier versions of 1972 and 1974) – the OSPAR

Convention (OSPAR)

The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment in the Baltic Sea Area

of 1992 (further to the earlier version of 1974) – the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM)

The Convention for the Protection of Marine Environment and the Coastal Region

of the Mediterranean of 1995 (further to the earlier version of 1976) – the

Barcelona Convention (UNEP-MAP)

The Convention for the Protection of the Black Sea of 1992 – the Bucharest

Convention.

Black Sea Commission

There is no dedicated project on marine litter at the moment at the Black Sea

Commission’s Secretariat. However, the issue of marine litter is receiving increased

attention. The Black Sea Commission might participate in global projects on marine

litter in the future and attract funding for projects in the area. For information on

new developments you can contact: Ms Irina Makarenko

(irina.makarenko@blacksea-commission.org) or secretariat@blacksea-

commission.org.

OSPAR (North-East Atlantic Region)

OSPAR adopted a Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter in June 2014, providing a

regional contribution to the EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive. While the

Action Plan aims to enable OSPAR countries to substantially reduce marine litter in

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North-East Atlantic it does not allocate any specific funding. Any such funding for

marine litter removal projects would become available only on the specific initiative

(and out of the budget) of the Contracting Parties. It might still be very valuable for

your project to contact the OSPAR Commission to inquire where activities on the

Action Plan stand and whether they have any recommendations on regional

funding options: John Mouat (John.Mouat@ospar.org) or secretariat@ospar.org.

HELCOM (Baltic Sea Region)

HELCOM does not open calls for proposals. Projects developed in the frame of

HELCOM are a result of mandates from Contracting Parties. If you plan a project on

marine litter it might still be useful to get in touch with the HELCOM secretariat to

check on-going developments and to liaise with people working on marine litter

and potentially with other projects that are being developed in the Baltic Sea

region. Contact: Marta Ruiz (Marta.Ruiz@helcom.fi) or

helcom.secretariat@helcom.fi.

The Barcelona Convention (Mediterranean):

Contracting parties of the Barcelona Convention agreed on a Marine Litter Regional

Action Plan in December 2013. Currently, guidelines on environmentally sound

fishing for litter projects are being developed as well as guidance on monitoring

marine litter. While no concrete funding opportunities exist for the time being, the

Secretariat of the Barcelona Convention tries to mobilise resources for fishing for

litter projects in the future. For up-to-date information you can contact: Tatjana

Hema (tatjana.hema@unepmap.gr).

Other initiatives

BONUS (Baltic Sea Region)

BONUS brings together the research communities of marine, maritime, economical

and societal research to address the major challenges faced by the Baltic Sea

region. It is a research and development programme to protect the Baltic Sea with

€100 million allocated for 2010 to 2017. Despite the focus on science and research,

it might be useful to liaise with BONUS for your project in the field of marine litter

retention: http://www.bonusportal.org/.

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Global Initiative on Marine Litter

In 2003, UNEP’s Regional Seas Coordinating Office and the Global Programme of

Action (GPA) embarked on the development of a ‘global initiative on marine litter’.

The initiative aimed at the establishment and development of pilot regional

activities in regions that are particularly affected. The global initiative also provides

a global platform for the establishment of partnerships, co-operation and co-

ordination of activities for the control and sustainable management of marine litter.

The continuation of the initiative, concrete activities and funding are currently

being discussed.

Foundations

Various philanthropic organisations have funding programmes on oceans, the marine

environment or fisheries; few of them chose marine litter as a priority. In general, these

foundations have a pro-active way of funding which means they do not deal with

unsolicited funding requests but identify the projects themselves. In addition to the

general value of networking, it could be useful to liaise with NGOs in your area that are

active in the area of marine litter to find out about their funding sources and whether

there is room for an additional project.

Baltic 2020 Foundation

Based in Sweden, this private foundation provides grants to projects dealing with

eutrophication, fishing and environmental awareness-raising in the Baltic Sea. It

funds small projects and big programmes, mostly in Sweden but also in other

countries. For example, it provided a grant to WWF Poland to carry out a project on

derelict fishing gear retrieval. Further information can be found here or by

contacting info@balticsea2020.org.

Protection Fund for the Archipelago Sea of Centrum Balticum Foundation

The Protection Fund for the Archipelago Sea finances concrete water conservation

projects in the Archipelago Sea and its catchment area by funds collected from

private persons, companies and organisations. You will find further information on

their website (comprehensive version only in Finnish and Swedish).

Obviously, this list cannot be exhaustive and funding programmes and priorities change.

We therefore recommend exhaustive research based on your project’s objectives and your

region. The contacts provided in this section provide first steps to help you getting started.