ICT Tool Policy toolbox

Establish and operate an Integrated Solid Waste Management System as the mean to prevent, recycle, and manage solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human health and the environment.

• Integrated solid Waste Management: The County of Aschaffenburg (Germany) implements a weight-based collection of residual waste, bio waste, and bulky waste, as well as the separate collection of paper from all households. In nearly all of its 32 municipalities the County operates collection centres (also known as “container parks” or “civic amenitysites”) to separately collect recyclable waste fractions such as glass and metals, and the County composts green cuttings. In addition, woody fractions are sent to biomass-fired power plants, residual waste is incinerated according to Best Available Technique (BAT) standards, bio waste is anaerobically digested, and subsidies are provided to households for home composting and for using re-usable nappies, and to households with incontinent persons. The ISWM system required considerable effort to acquire and process data for billing, accounting, and system optimisation purposes.

• In Kendari City (Indonesia) turning waste into alternative energy in the form of methane gas manifested a service to society in managing waste but also facilitated the poor people, like waste pickers, by supplying free electricity in their houses and free energy to cook through the installed pipes connecting to the houses and the cooking sites around the Final Waste Disposal.

Enhance the responsibility of waste producers under a circular economy through increased resource efficiency facilitating sustainable consumption and production patterns, including cradle-to-cradle life cycle design, high quality recycling and sustainable packaging, as crucial components for the prevention and management of marine litter. Promote Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, Deposit, Return and Refunding Systems, Integrated Management Systems.

• The UK new Resources and Waste Strategy promotes increased responsibility to waste industries that will pay the full net costs of recycling or disposing of their packaging placed on the market by extending producer responsibility with higher responsibility schemes for items that can be harder or costly to recycle, encouragement of manufacturers to design products that last longer and drive up the levels of repair and re-use, promotion of tougher penalties for rogue waste crime operators if they mislabel their waste to dodge tax rules, setting of compulsory electronic tracking of waste and consistent labelling on packaging so consumers know what they can recycle, and establish compulsory annual reporting of food surplus and waste by food businesses.

Disposal of single plastic use

• Starting with 2020, the Sibiu County Administration will prohibit the purchase and use of single use plastic objects at all events organized by the Sibiu County Council. Also, each event will be carefully monitored to see the quantity of generated plastic waste. Moreover, they started to organize events as “Refuse, what you do not use” to raise awareness of the negative impact of plastic consumption.

• In August 2019, Brasov County Administration voted to ban plastic dishes, glasses and cutlery at the public events. From October 1, in all kind of events will be used dishes made of biodegradable and compostable materials, certified according to EN/3432. In case of noncompliance, the event organizer will no longer be able to participate in other events that will take place within Brasov Municipality.

• In Constanta, Mare Nostrum NGO, started an online petition, broadly distributed, in order to make the municipality to adopt a local council decision to ban single use plastic at local events, in Constanta and the touristic seaside resorts that are subordinated to local administration. Until 2^nd of September 2019, the petition was signed by 256 persons.

Implementation of a selective collection system

• In 2017, Targu Lapus, a little town from North of Romania had a recycle rate between 40 – 60%, 10 times more than the rest of the country. This was possible after the implementation of a selective collection system. The municipality bought the bins and made them available to the inhabitants, who were obliged to use them. If someone from a unit of flats refused to use them, the entire unit was fined. Moreover, was bought a mechanical biological treatment station, which converts household waste into compost.

• In Iasi was opened a municipal collection center which aims to improve the rates of recyclable waste collection and reduce the negative impact on the environment, especially of waste electrical and electronic equipment. Also, were bought 15 road containers for collecting small electrical and electronic equipments as computers, radios, etc.

Implementation and enforcement of regulations and management measures at national levels

European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy

• European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy was adopted in Romania through Decision no. 27/2018 on the adoption of the opinion on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, that supports the actions at EU levels.

• Germany is among the best performers in the EU as regards waste management and has already reached the EU’s 2020 municipal waste recycling target of 50%. However, it also generates far more waste than the EU average, which has remained stable over the last five years (633 k per capita in 2017), but is above the EU average (487 kg/y per capita).

• Germany recycles a lot of its municipal solid waste (68%). The incineration rate (including energy recovery) stands at 31%. Landfilling is practically non-existent (1%), as measures were taken in 2005 to effectively ban the landfilling of waste with a high calorific value.

• The transition towards a circular economy is a key project of the ecological and social transition in France. Thus, was elaborated and adopted a roadmap that includes 50 measures for a 100% circular economy.

• Starting with 2017, the Norwegian government presented a White Paper on waste policies in a circular economy with an emphasis on increasing reuse and recycling to the Norwegian Parliament. When it comes to recycling plastic waste, Norway is ahead the pack. In fact, the Scandinavian nation has virtually lapped the rest of the world. Norway has created one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways of recycling plastic bottles, and the results are so impressive that many nations are following suit. The scheme has allowed Norway to recycle 97 percent of all its plastic bottles, with less than one percent ending up in the environment. What's more, 92 percent of the bottles recycled yield such high quality material, it can be used again in drink bottles. In some cases, the system has already reused the same material more than 50 times.

• In Lithuania, the introduction of a deposit-refund system for single-use plastic and glass bottles and metal cans proved to be very successful, having achieved its 2020 objective of 90 % collection rate already in 2017.

Promote environmentally responsible fishing and maritime transport practices through the concept of green/circular economy, as crucial components for the prevention and management of marine litter, i.e., the provision of port reception facilities for ship-generated waste, including facilities for pleasure craft, meeting the needs of ships, available in the ports and terminals of the Parties.

• In 2007 and 2008, waste bins were distributed to vessels operating in Cascais Municipality, in order to discourage waste disposal into the sea. In 2008, the first reception point (Ecopoint) for waste from vessels was implemented in the Fishing Port of Cascais, as a waste reception point. This Ecopoint receives hazardous waste especially from fishing vessels which include batteries, oils and oil filters and contaminated packaging. The fishermen are responsible for the Ecopoint maintenance and waste management. When the Ecopoint is full, the fishermen call the waste management companies to collect the waste and send it for recycling. In addition to the installation of the Ecopoint, a leaflet on the types of marine litter that come from fishing vessels was also distributed.

Apply a "No-special-fee" charging system in which the cost of reception, handling, processing and disposal of ship-generated wastes, originating from the normal operation of the ship, as well as of marine litter caught in fishing nets, is included in the harbour fee or is charged to the ship irrespective of whether waste are delivered or not, as a means for a substantial decrease in the number of operational and illegal discharges and thus for the prevention of pollution of the marine environment.

• The Cypriot Port Authority, in accordance with National and EU legislation (CPD 771/2003 - 2000/59/ΕC) has implemented an ‘Indirect Fee System’ for the Collection of Ship Waste in Cyprus. Based on this, every ship that enters Cypriot ports is charged a fee that gives it the right to dispose of its waste (solid waste, sludge and sewage), regardless of whether or not the ship will actually dispose of any waste. The charges for solid waste vary depending on ship type, and range from around 15 Euros/day for ships under construction or entering the port for refuelling/staff change/fuel supply etc. to around 110 Euros/day for passenger ships, and allow the ships to dispose a “reasonable” quantity of waste depending on the type of ship. The Indirect Fee System provides an incentive for ships to deliver their waste to ports rather than to dispose of it at sea. It is estimated that every year a total of about 15,400 m3 of waste is collected through this system at the three main Cypriot ports. This waste is comprised mainly (about 90%) of waste originating from the preparation of food and other activities taking place in the ships’ bars and restaurants. An additional 2,100 m3 of sewage and sewage sludge are collected. The treatment of the collected waste depends on its type. Recyclables are collected separately and sent for recycling, mixed waste is sent for disposal and, where possible, sewage waste is sent to sewage treatment facilities in Cyprus.

Apply a “Fishing for Litter” protocol in which fishermen are involved in removing marine litter with payment during specific fishing trips or during their normal fishing activities without financial compensation, as one of the most important reduction and removal measures of marine litter from the marine environment (mainly from the seafloor), by involving the key sector of fishing industry.

• “Fishing for Litter” activities have been widely applied mainly in NE Atlantic Ocean, and specifically in the North Sea; in the Baltic Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea similar actions have been undertaken more recently. At global level, one project is under development in the United States with energy recovery from the fishing gear removed. In the Mediterranean, it has been implemented by the projects Ecological bags on board (Spanish East Coast), Ecopuertos (Andalusian Coast, Spain), DeFishGear (Adriatic Sea), Port of San Remo (Ligurian Coast, Italy) and Port of Rovinj (Northern Adriatic Sea, Croatia). Fishing boats in places like Galicia and Sardinia are bringing used nets and other plastic gear back to port rather than dumping them at sea.

• The IPA-Adriatic DeFishGear project and the Healthy Seas initiative have been conducting target recovery of ghost nets and collecting nets from fishing and aquaculture industries for regeneration and up-cycling (turning them into high quality materials and textile products). Operations were conducted in all countries of the Adriatic Sea and Mediterranean countries and provide background knowledge and skills for the sustainable valorisation of collected materials.

Promote agreements for waste management, provide recycling certificates and eco-labels to stimulate the market to reduce waste, particularly in the tourism industry.

• The responsible snack bars project: the project launched by the Spanish Biodiversity Foundation aimed to encourage pro-environmental behaviour and sustainable economic development in traditional beach bars serving food, snacks or drinks on the beach (“chiringuitos”), and to protect and preserve the Spanish coastline incorporating social aspects of the area. “Decalogue of Good Environmental Practices”, which includes actions such as recycling and proper waste management, using local products and hiring local staff, raising awareness etc. was established for the chiringuitos to adhere to the Decalogue. The Foundation launched at national level the “Responsible Chiringuitos Awards” to award the exemplary activities for the protection of the environment that could be further adopted by others. During the tourist season June-September 2012, overall 526 beach bars in seven regions joined the “Decalogue of Good Environmental Practices”, 55 beach bars signed up for the first edition of the “Responsible Chiringuitos Awards, and 6 awards were given for a total amount of €24,000 for initiatives already in place and for new ideas.

Increase awareness of key actors, residents, students, volunteers and the general public regarding the impacts of marine litter in the economic, social and environmental aspect and facilitate participation of stakeholders in networks committed to take action to prevent, reduce, monitor and manage marine litter.

• LIFE DEBAG project arranged an intensive awareness campaign in Syros island (Greece) to prevent and reduce plastic bag pollution in the marine environment targeting mainly residents and actors from tourism (hoteliers, shops, supermarkets etc.). Over 10,000 reusable cotton shopping bags were distributed as a provision of free reusable alternatives, over 6000 students in 56 schools were informed, and per­suaded more than 200 shop owners to sign a voluntary agreement to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. Monitoring of awareness was accomplished through surveys of supermarket customers, and of the amount of plastic bags through beach clean-up cam­paigns, airborne drone and underwa­ter camera surveys. In addition, a series of national consultation forums with all relevant stakeholders to define policy agreements for single-use plastic bags was arranged to provide policy recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the law for lightweight plastic bag fee. During the first two years of the project a 70% reduction in plas­tic bags on the beaches of Syros was recorded, as well as a 30% reduction in plastic bags on the sea­floor in Ermoupolis Bay.

• The MARLISCO project (www.marlisco.eu) aimed at informing, educating and promoting awareness to key stakeholders and the general public with issues related to marine litter. Various types of informative material were produced. The MARLISCO educational pack on marine litter “Know, feel, act! To stop Marine Litter: Activities and lesson plans for middle level students” developed by MIO-ECSDE/MEdIES, aimed to inform, sensitize and enable teachers and students to take action to tackle the problem of litter in seas and coasts, was translated in 15 languages. The “MARLISCO Guide for Reducing Marine Litter: Get Inspired and Become Innovative Through Best Practices” aimed to provide an overview of the types of activities that different key stakeholders can implement reporting more than 70 practical examples of best practices. The developed brochure provided essential information on marine litter and suggestions on how one can contribute to tackling this growing pressure. The brochure targeted citizens and specific economic sectors (i.e., tourism, the maritime and wider manufacturing sector) aiming to inform but also to foster a sense of empowerment and take up actions.

• The campaign "Keep the Mediterranean Litter-free" launched by MIO-ECSDE, the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA) and Clean-up Greece with the support of UNEP/MAP MEDPOL and the Mediterranean Pollution Assessment and Control Programme of UNEP/MAP in 2008 aimed to raise public awareness on the causes and impacts of the pollution of the sea from solid waste, but also highlighting the role and responsibilities of all related actors. The campaign included a range of various activities in several Mediterranean countries and involving a wide range of participants such as educators and students, seafarers and staff of ships’ managing companies, national and local authorities, port authorities, NGOs and the civil society at large. Apart from the printing material produced in 10 languages, the campaign published a set of sector-based guidelines for the main stakeholders i.e. agriculture, industry, the tourism and maritime sectors, regional, national and local authorities, and civil society.

Promote concepts such as titles and certificates for the protection of marine environment as “guardians” to enhance responsibility, stimulate local people volunteer to undertake quarterly beach cleans and litter surveys of their chosen beach and enable people to become actively involved in practical measures to reduce marine litter.

• “Adopt-a-Beach” (http://adoptabeach.com) is a concept when a school, a local community, a NGO or a group of volunteers “adopts” (not in a legal sense) a beach and takes care of that beach by regular cleanup events. Marine Conservation Society (MCS), UK, co-ordinates a range of projects that encourage public participation in marine conservation, including “Adopt-a-Beach” and “Beach-watch”, the biggest beach clean and litter survey projects in Europe. MCS has been collecting data on marine litter through “Beach-watch” since 1993 and “Adopt-a-Beach” since 1999 and has thus amassed a large bank of data detailing both type and source of litter to be found in the UK. The protocols and methodology used are compatible with other systems on a European and worldwide basis. “Beach-watch” provides data for the International Coastal Cleanup on litter surveys and beach cleans over the same weekend in September, providing information on the global extent of Marine Litter. “Adopt-a-Beach” data is fed into the OSPAR project on Marine Litter. The methodology used by OSPAR is based on the Adopt-a-Beach surveys.

• Beach Ambassador title aims to encourage sustainable behaviour and support the public to take personal responsibility in public places by preventing littering, encouraging pack-in, pack out concept to reduce overflowing bins and recycling. Beach Ambassadors are mainly locals so are able to share stories and local knowledge with the community and the general public they engage with. The Beach Ambassador concept has been adopted in several Marine Reserves, touristic areas and beaches.

Promote beach certificate types and efficient recognition on the quality of beaches and bathing waters as a means to enhance the good quality of marine and coastal environment, contribute in consistent monitoring and assist in immediate management responses in terms of measures and actions to prevent or restore potential pollution in a coastal area.

• The Blue Flag was created in France in 1985 as a pilot scheme where French coastal municipalities were awarded the Blue Flag on the basis of criteria covering sewage treatment and bathing water quality. The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), launched under the Blue Flag Programme as one of several "European Year of the Environment" activities in the European Community, that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a non-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia, North America and South America. FEE's Blue Flag criteria include high and strict standards for water quality, safety, environmental education and information, the provision of services and general environmental management criteria. Certificates, or “awards”, are issued on an annual basis to beaches and marinas of FEE member countries.

Organize intensive awareness-raising and clean-up campaigns as a means to improve the environmental status of a marine or coastal area through the removal of litter and empower citizens to become part of the solution.

• The annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC, https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/international-coastal-cleanup) campaign, which is coordinated globally by Ocean Conservancy (US-based ocean conservation NGO) and its many global partners, has been operating since 1986 in the US and globally since 1989. The ICC has engaged 132 countries and territories in its 26 years, involving hundreds of NGOs, government agencies, various private sector and other civil society groups and organizations at the regional, national and local level. The ICC involves hundreds of thousands of volunteers and organizers who annually survey beaches and underwater sites to remove debris around the globe and record valuable information on the types and sources of marine debris using a standardized data. The ICC is unique in that its activities of collecting data on the composition and abundance of Marine Litter provide the only global database of this information worldwide, and its outputs are used to assist policy decisions. With a budget of only €2 million Clean Sea LIFE has organised more than 600 clean-ups, recovering 10 tonnes of marine litter to date.

• Project AWARE (a growing movement of scuba divers protecting the oceans) and PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) dive centres, organise underwater beach cleans with volunteer divers. These underwater clean-ups are valuable as they remove plastic, netting, cans, old buoys and general rubbish that has already made it into the marine ecosystem. Dive Against Debris is a year-round, underwater debris and data collection effort. Divers are encouraged to report on locations, types and quantities of litter that they see and remove underwater. Divers wishing to participate are asked to choose a site that they are familiar with and where they find marine litter regularly and organize with friends to collect and report that litter. A training manual, a data card, a marine debris ID guide, along with other supporting tools, are all download-able from Project AWARE’s website. The collected litter is categorised based on material of construction: plastic, glass/ceramic, metal, rubber, wood, cloth, paper/cardboard, mixed materials and other debris items. Individual items are then recorded within the relevant category using the Dive Against Debris Data Card and ID Guide. Information about amounts and types of collected litter, survey location, dive duration, depth, number of participants and entangled animals encountered is then reported into an online database. Divers are asked to re-peat the survey of their chosen dive site as often and as regularly as they can in order to help identify trends at their chosen location.

Prevention of marine litter in the sea, by reducing littering

• Romania is part of the international cleanup campaign “Let’s do it” which aims to unite the global community, raise awareness and implement true change to achieve our final goal – a clean and healthy planet. Thus, 15 of September is declared the Romania Cleanup Day. In 2018, more than 365 000 volunteers gathered 3505 tons of waste, cleaning 1.502.455 m². In Constanta, 2600 volunteers took part at the action and have collected 3000 bags with waste.

• Starting with 2017, Romania joined the challenge “Plastic free July”, an international concept of awareness, change and mobilization of community to protect nature from the effects of plastic, where millions of people give up single use plastic during the month of July. Plastic is used daily, in the form of bags, bottles, packaging and many more. Sometimes people use plastic for only a brief moment to carry groceries home or to drink a cup of coffee, but it can take up to 1000 years to decompose. Plastic is destructive for the environment; it lowers the fertility of our soils and is harmful for wildlife. More plastic has been produced in the first ten years of this century than its predecessor.

• Mare Nostrum NGO marks every year the Black Sea International Action Day by organizing public campaigns to inform local community, coastal communities, authorities and the general public about the importance of marine and coastal ecosystems for local and regional development and the problems that may arise there. Starting with 2016, Mare Nostrum started to organize a running which aim is to raise awareness of the impact of marine litter. Thus, there are 3 routes: one for children and their parents, one of 4 km and one of 7 km. The number of participants increases from year to year and in 2018, 1500 runners accepted the proposal, to run for the Black Sea. Also, in 2018 was launched a new challenge for all participants: to prove civic sense by gathering cigarette butts from beach, during their run and bring them to “Mucometru”, a new unit of measurement specially designed to record the number of existing butts. They mobilized and collected 25 units, meaning about 2.500 cigarettes butts.

• Mare Nostrum has also a campaign dedicated to collection of waste vegetable oil. Being to be a toxic residue, waste oil is regulated at the legislative level by special rules, which oblige both oil and gas operators and individuals to collect separately the residual oil and deliver it to the economic agents in charge recycling this type of waste. More than 5 years after its implementation, the project continues to produce results: people bring used vegetable oil, collecting over 10.000 l annually. This is extending also at national level and new and new campaigns and events are available, one of this being “Uleiosul”.

Prevention of marine litter in the sea, by reducing littering

• In Copenhagen, a company renting out kayaks set up the initiative of the “environmental kayak”. The company proposes people to use their “environmental kayak” for free, if they clean the harbor while kayaking. To do so, the kayak is equipped with a bucket and equipment for collecting waste. The collected waste is then weighted at the end. This initiative has been funded via a project for cultural activities around the harbor of Copenhagen.

• In QuiberonBay (Brittany, France), one artist launched a project to raise awareness on marine litter by creating temporary “marine monsters” made of plastic litter found on the beaches of the area. As most of the big cleaning actions and collection campaign on the beaches take place in the spring, before the tourist seasons, she thought so few people were able to realize the real quantity of plastic litter produced by the tourists. Thus, creating these plastic monsters during the touristic season is a way to raise awareness of tourists on marine litter. The artist uses the social media to also disseminate her action all around the world, in particular through the Instagram account “Plastic monster”, and to raise similar initiatives in other places.

• The Beat the Micro Bead campaign targets producers of cosmetic exfoliants that use plastic microbeads. The organisation provides a smartphone barcode scanner app to identify products that contain plastic microbeads and rates them as red (contains microbeads), orange (contains microbeads but the producer has indicated it will stop within a given timeframe) or green (free from microbeads). In doing so, targeted information is readily available before the point of purchase to allow the consumer to boycott brands and products using microbeads. The potential purchasing power pressure combined with the bad publicity of having products listed in the campaign has proved to be strong motivation for some companies, with many having made commitments to remove microbeads from their products, including The Body Shop, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever,L’Oreal, Colgate-Palmolive, Beiersdorf(Nivea) and Procter & Gamble.

• The Marine Conservation Society’s Don’t Let Go Campaign aims to stop releases of balloons and sky lanterns due to the litter they create and the impact upon marine species. The campaign provides an action pack so that individuals may take action to stop a balloon or sky lantern release in their area and directly engages groups planning balloon and sky lantern launches. A petition to the Welsh Government led to an investigation to gather and review evidence to inform future Government responses to any call for action.

• Sea Dream Team: An interactive serious gameWithin the MARLISCO project a serious game, offering the oppor-tunity to discover 8 interactive comic strip characters, is being de-veloped. Each character has the possibility to behave in a respon-sible or irresponsible manner regarding the coastal environment and marine litter. The player has to help them make the correct choices. The more correct choices the characters makes, the more points the player wins.The serious game, which targets youngsters between the ages of 10 and 12 will be presented on www.marlisco.eu.

• The Blue Lid Campaign is a social responsibility project that aims to supply wheelchairs to those who need them but can-not afford them, in exchange for plastic bottle lids.The campaign was first launched in 2010 by the Faculty of Den-tistry, Ege University. The aim of the campaign was to collect plastic lids, sell them to a recycling company and use the pro-ceeds to buy manual or motored wheeled chairs for disabled people. There was a great interest for the campaign all around Turkey, from both individuals and institutional supporters. The Faculty of Dentistry, Ege University ended the campaign in late 2012 and passed over their lids to the Spinal Cord Para-lytics Association of Turkey, who has been responsible for the campaign since the beginning of 2013.

Investigate and promote European, national financial instruments and tools that can be used to finance public and private investment in waste management projects or actions.

• Operational Program "Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development" 2014-2020

• Operational Program "Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation" 2014-2020

• Regional Operational Programs 2014-2020

• Operational Program Public Sector Reform to strengthen management in the waste sector

• European 2020 programs: LIFE, Horizon2020

• European initiatives: LEADER, INTERREG etc.

• Green Fund

• Application of extended producer responsibility

• Application of environmental economic tools (burial fee, pay as much as I throw away)