MAELSTROM Objective 5: Engaging society for ML prevention, removal and circular economy

The objective is to achieve with societal engagement better understanding, reduction/removal of marine litter and plastics in a bottom up effort to support the MSFD, along with the Circular Economy Strategy and the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy. Citizens and local administrations will be targeted in order to raise their awareness about the ML issue and importance of prevention to avoid environmental damage and societal costs. This will be done with specific dissemination campaigns, including participatory and large scale clean up aimed at identifying and tracking ML with MAELSTROM app for an efficient disposal and treatment. The engagement requires people to think about plastic trash, citizen responsibility and circular economy potential. All these actions are expected to change the way they perceive ML, and how themselves can be part of change and make a difference.