Innovative Solutions for Plastic Free European Rivers
INSPIRE’s main objective is to contribute to the drastic reduction of litter, macro and microplastics in European rivers in a holistic approach, by bringing together 20 technologies and actions for: DETECTION of the pollution present in the river and at the riverbank; COLLECTION of litter and macroplastics at the river bank and litter, macro and microplastics in the river; PREVENTION of litter, macro and microplastics to enter the river by collecting it from its waste stream before it can enter the river and by developing biodegradable alternatives for currently non-degradable polluting products, to avoid they will further be used and arrive in the river as litter. Six use case are defined in INSPIRE to install and test the technologies and actions, to model the processes related to the water purification activities, to obtain 7 well defined solutions at detection, collection or prevention level and combinations thereof. The technical feasibility is backboned by a techno-economical analysis with the development of business cases for the solutions, action plans towards upscaling and replication and together with mapping and modelling all elements are brought together to develop a Master Plan for tackling the challenges of the mission and contributing to the objectives of the mission. The INSPIRE project will be very visible due to its well developed dissemination and communication plan and strategy for community engagement. Apart from the general dissemination and communication tools and activities, specific activities will be setup on festivals, promoting 100% biodegradable products as a result of INSPIRE.

INSPIRE’s consortium is composed of 26 partners with complementary expertise and a good balance of academia, industry, communication specialists and soft skills organisations is obtained, who all together will work towards the target of having a number of successful solutions that can find their way to the market and put INSPIRE on the radar.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

• Reduced pollution from litter, plastics and microplastics in European river
• Accelerated uptake of innovative solutions to prevent and minimize pollution of rivers by litter, plastics and microplastics
• Effective monitoring of litter, plastics and microplastics to implement the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
• Reduction by at least 50% plastic litter at sea and by at least 30% microplastics released into the environment
• Contribution to the Mission’s Digital Ocean and Water Knowledge system through marine observations and open data and knowledge sharing

Individual business/impact cases of ANRI
Increase the involvement in at least one of > 3 planned global impact proposals per year, creating impact through publishing and community engagement and create 2 additional research positions and 2 for volunteers.

The role of alchemia-nova
alchemia-nova will focus on several key aspects within the INSPIRE project. Our primary objective is to develop innovative pathways for replacing single-use plastics with reusable, recyclable, biobased, and biodegradable materials. Additionally, we will contribute to the production of PHAs from non-food, non-feed feedstock and their deployment in various applications. We will also play a crucial role in demonstrating the use of chitosan nanocoating for extending the shelf life of fresh produce. Through our expertise in supply chain management, we will actively support the establishment of zero-waste supply and recovery chains, working closely with retailers, public utilities, and other stakeholders. alchemia-nova is committed to driving sustainable solutions, fostering collaboration, and making a tangible impact in addressing plastic pollution.

Project Coordinator
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee

Partners:
Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V.
Univerza v Mariboru
Energ+ doo
Mold Srl
Fishflow Innovations BV
Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigacao Marinha e Ambiental
123Zero, Trgovina in Trajnostne Resitve, doo
Hochschulen Fresenius gemeinnützige Trägergesellschaft mbH
Wageningen University
Bio-Mi drustvo s ogranicenom odgovornoscu za proizvodnju, istrazivanje i razvoj
Minds Technologies Kai Epistimes Perivallontos I.K.E.
Kungliga Tekniska Hoegskolan
Deligiannakis Georgios-Deligiannakis Dimitrios OE
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Foundation EXIT
Universidad de Cadiz
Archa Srl
Infordata Sistemi Srl
Circe Biotechnologie GmbH
River Cleanup
Waste & Water
Asociatia Romana A Apei
Asian Institute of Technology
Noria BV

Project status
Starts 06/2023, duration 48 months
Project website: XXXX
Call: HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01
Topic: HORIZON-MISS-2022-OCEAN-01-04
Grant Agreement Number:  101112879
Overall costs: € 9,983,780.50
EU contribution: € 9,983,780.50