With the participation of 13 partners from countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland including the Atlantic Technological University and University Limerick, the project aims to create an ecosystem of intercooperation, innovation, entrepreneurship and internationalisation, to promote the marine plastic value chain and emerging business opportunities, in order to establish a replicable circular economy model in the Atlantic region.

The widespread presence of plastic in the oceans attracts toxic substances that are ingested by plankton, the base of the food chain for marine species. This contamination has a devastating effect on the preservation of marine biodiversity, human health, food security and economic activities related to the sea.

The “BluePoint” project emerges as a response to this urgent need, developing innovative strategies to transition maritime activities from a linear model to a resource-efficient Blue Circular Economy. The main focus centres on the entire marine plastic value chain, from plastic identification and collection to cleaning and sorting, recycling and processing, driving the creation of a new sustainable value chain. Throughout the project, specific research, entrepreneurship, awareness and transferability actions will be implemented to achieve these objectives.

The BluePoint project, which has an overall budget of more than €3.3 million and starts in January 2024, promises to be a major milestone in the fight against marine plastic pollution, while paving the way for the creation of a thriving and sustainable blue circular economy.

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