LIVES: 260 tons of trash less in our rivers

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“Together with Dutch and German colleagues, we worked within the project LIVES 'Litter Free Rivers and Streams' on a litter-free Maas. In this way, we want to put an end to the plastic that flows through our rivers and channels to the sea"Flemish Minister of Mobility and Public Works Lydia PetersLitter-free rivers and streams (LIVES) laid the foundation for a standardised litter monitoring and reporting system. The partners can continue to use this for their own work to prevent plastic pollution.Project partners and volunteers installed 21 litter traps and studied their effectiveness. These included floating barriers such as a tree trunk, nets and screens at water mills and weirs. Cleanup actions involving over 10 000 people collected over 260 tons of rubbish from the banks of the Meuse and its tributaries in the 3 countries.Laying the foundationLIVES was the first regional, cross-border project to seek a solution to plastic litter in the EU’s waterways and it acknowledged the fact that litter does not stop at country borders. It highlighted the lack of common legislation and guidelines to deal with the problem effectively.There are currently no standards for how much plastic litter in water is acceptable, as there are for toxic chemicals like carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or heavy metals. Putting such standards in place could stimulate monitoring and contribute to better awareness of the economic and social urgency of the problem.Plastic litter has already has been found inarctic snowand started to damage to the environment and enter the food chain. When plastic remains in the environment for long periods, plants grow into it. It breaks down into smaller pieces, which the roots absorb. Researchers are still investigating this process and its effects, notably on the animals that eat these plants and the humans who eat them in turn.Education and cooperationEfforts to prevent litter focused on education and awareness-raising via social media, press campaigns, by involving schools and universities, and through face-to-face communication with people enjoying leisure time along the Meuse.Two agreements were signed: the Meuse Clean-Up and the Clean Meuse Joint Statement. The former is intended to encourage thousands of volunteers and partner organisations to participate in annual clean-up campaigns. The joint statement lays the basis for long-term exchange of knowledge and good practices to prevent plastic from reaching the ocean.Volunteers were trained to help researchers expand the scope of their work, map how much litter is in and around rivers and locate litter hotspots. While the number of volunteers involved in clean-up actions grew steadily during the project, the amount of litter found did not decrease, according to the final projectreport.LIVES provided a better idea of the origin of the litter and raised awareness of the problem. Continuing cross-border collaboration, communication and clean-up campaigns will help maintain the momentum the project has generated.Total investment and EU fundingTotal investment for the project 'LIVES: Litter-Free Rivers and Streams' is EUR 1 500 000, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 735 300 through the Interreg V-A - Belgium-Germany-The Netherlands (Euregio Meuse-Rhine) Cooperation Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority ‘furthering regional integration and institutional cooperation’.