• Posted 04-Nov-2019

JPI Oceans: Funding for Microplastics Projects

JPI Oceans partners and Brazil have agreed to fund five international joint research projects on microplastics in the ocean.

The new projects will conduct research into the sources of microplastics and look into analytical methods for identifying smaller micro- and nano-plastics. The projects will also focus on monitoring and mapping of microplastics in the ocean including their effects on the marine environment.

The five projects were awarded via a competitive call process in which 38 joint proposals requested €42 million in total. Based on evaluations by peer reviewers and an expert panel, the following five proposals were selected:

• ANDROMEDA - Analysis techniques for quantifying nano- and microplastic particles and their degradation in the marine environment, France;
• HOTMIC - Horizontal and vertical oceanic distribution, transport, and impact of microplastics, Germany;
• FACTS - Fluxes and Fate of Microplastics in Northern European Waters, Denmark;
• microplastiX - Integrated approach on the fate of MicroPlastics (MPs) towards healthy marine ecosystems, Sweden;
• i-plastic - Dispersion and impacts of micro- and nano-plastics in the tropical and temperate oceans: from regional land-ocean interface to the open ocean, Spain.

The projects are expected to start in spring 2020. A joint kick off meeting between the projects will take place in Oslo in 2020.

Source: UKRO