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Marine Litter-MED Project
The “Marine Litter-MED” Project is a EU-funded project implemented and coordinated by the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), also known as UNEP/MAP. Its aim is to support the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) from the Southern Mediterranean / European Neighbourhood, helping them implement the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean within the Framework of Article 15 of the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol) to the Barcelona Convention.
The project was launched on 19-20 July 2016 in Tirana, Albania, within the framework of the Mediterranean Trust Fund (MTF)-funded Regional Meeting on the Further Implementation of the Regional Plan for the Management of Marine Litter in the Mediterranean. The project consists of three major outputs, described as follows:
- Output A: Assisting the implementation of the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean, at sub-regional levels, with a particular focus on the up to five most common Marine Litter (ML) measures provided in the updated National Action Plans (NAPs).
- Output B: Strengthening the implementation of harmonized approaches at regional and sub-regional level to reduce and prevent marine litter generation from land-based and sea-based sources including pilot interventions (EU countries to participate on a no-cost basis).
- Output C: Assisting the establishment of regional and bilateral cooperation mechanisms with relevant regional actors as well as European Regional Sea Conventions to enhance synergies for the implementation of the ML Action Plans adopted or in process of preparation, with a particular focus on the collaboration with the Black Sea Commission.
As tasked by the “Marine Litter-MED” project, REMPEC is leading and coordinating a number of activities to assist the relevant beneficiary countries in their execution of the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean. Currently, the REMPEC-led initiatives mainly focus on the Cost Recovery System (CRS) adopted by the ports for the use of port reception facilities (PRF), which is closely related to the choice of means to discharge ship-generated waste, as well as the provision of PRF and delivery of ship-generated waste in the marinas. So far, REMEPC has published a dedicated study on CRS, a Guidance document for the adoption of CRS, Operational Guidelines on the provision of PRF and delivery of ship-generated waste, and has carried out pilots in 3 beneficiary countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia).
The activities coordinated by REMPEC focus on measures that will create better management of sea-based litter in selected major ports and marinas in the Mediterranean, more specifically:
- the application of charges at reasonable costs for the use of port reception facilities or, when applicable, application of a No-Special-Fee system; and
- the provision of reception facilities in ports, as well as the delivery of ship-generated wastes.