Blue Circular Nets
CIRCNETS
Funders
Project information
Project duration
-
Funded by
European Structural and Investment Funds - INTERREG
Project funder
Funding amount
1 499 969 EUR
Project coordinator
University of Oulu
Unit and faculty
Contact information
Project leader
- Postdoctoral researcher
Contact person
Project description
Long distances and lack of critical mass are key challenges for organising waste management in many parts of the northern, peripheral and sparsely populated areas of Europe. This is highlighted even more in the case of end-of-life (EOL) fishing gear, which due to the changes in legislation, has to be collected separately. Blue Circular Nets (CIRCNETS) was a Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) 2021 - 2027 programme funded project, which supports the setting up of a collection system for EOL fishing gear in the NPA region.
Finding out how collection can be organised regionally in a most efficient and economical way, which also adheres to the "do no significant harm" principle, requires solutions to be looked at from other regions, which have already taken steps towards this. The collection of fishing gear also opens a possibility to proceed towards a more circular economy and find out ways how the collected materials can be recycled regionally. CIRCNETS created solutions for both of these issues by drafting a blueprint for the collection, treatment and recycling of EOL fishing gear in the NPA region. The project partnership included organisations from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, and Iceland.
Project actions
The actions of the project were divided between three work packages (WP). The deliverables of the work packages paved the way towards the overall aim of the project. The work packages were the following ones:
- Analysis of fishing gear volumes and collection responsibilities and practices in NPA ports
- WP1 mapped out the overall fishing gear volumes that are in use in NPA countries, collected EOL fishing gear volumes and the EOL fishing gear collection responsibilities and practices in NPA ports.
- NPA marine plastic mitigation model (collection, treatment, reuse)
- WP2 developed a model to sustainably use EOL fishing gear, which included analysis of the current disposal systems, end of waste criteria, economic potential and emerging technologies for EOL fishing gear utilisation.
- Implementation of EPR for EOL fishing gear in NPA countries
- WP3 mapped out how extended producer responsibility (EPR) can be implemented in the fishing gear sector, taking into account the implementation of EPR in other sectors and the legislative changes, such as changes in the single use plastics (SUP) and port reception directives.
Increasing knowledge about marine plastic pollution had a high priority in the project. The spokesperson of the project, Gus the Gull, advocated these issues to the general public in various ways, such as through newsletters. Another aspect was informing the fishing sector in particular about the legislative changes, which affect EOL fishing gear. The project also promoted best practices for the recycling of the collected materials and how these could be given a second life. Different dissemination activities as well as workshops and webinars were organised about these themes in the course of the project.
Project results
In the project, a blueprint for the collection, treatment, and recycling of EOL fishing gear in the NPA region was created. The local circumstances and legislative requirements were taken into account in the drafting. Another aspect which emerged from this activity was the recycling of EOL fishing gear as a raw material. CIRCNETS reviewed the currently used methods and technologies from the participating regions, and these best practices were shared to support circular economy activities in the whole NPA region.
The project's results can be found on the project page: https://www.interreg-npa.eu/projects/circnets/home/outputs-results/
