Skip to main content
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
spade shovelling plastic in sand
  1. School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
  2. Research
  3. Collaborative research centres
  4. The River Communities Group
  5. PPP Project

Preventing Plastic Pollution Project

Working in partnership with 18 organisations from across France and England, Preventing Plastic Pollution seeks to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in the marine environment. By looking at the catchment from source to sea, the project will identify and target hotspots for plastic, embed behaviour change in local communities and businesses, and implement effective solutions and alternatives.

The €14m Preventing Plastic Pollution project was approved by the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme, which has committed €9.9m in funding through the European Regional Development Fund. The project will work across seven pilot sites: Brest Harbour, Bay of Douarnenez, Bay of Veys, Poole Harbour, and the Medway, Tamar, and Great Ouse estuaries. 

The information gathered from research in these areas will allow the cross-Channel partnerships to tackle some of the four million tonnes of plastic waste that enter the sea via rivers every year.

Project objectives:

PPP will improve the quality of Transitional Waters across the France (Channel) England area (SO 3.2) by;

  • Developing a scalable and transferable mapping tool to provide quantifiable evidence of sources and quantities of plastic pollution in catchments.
  • Developing an effective portfolio of innovative interventions to reduce plastic waste in or entering catchments.
  • Transforming the behaviour of target groups and demonstrating best practice.

Expected project results:

PPP will improve water quality with:

  • A 10 % improvement in good ecological status (WFD Descriptor 10) in transitional waters.
  • A reduction in the harm caused by plastic pollution in rivers and the sea equivalent to €38.8M-€126M (150 km river/coast cleared, 200 t plastic removed).
  • A plastic-free charter implemented by 650 businesses & 50 supply chains modified.
  • Projected uptake to include+10 more catchments 2 yrs post project, and 100 catchments after 5 years. 

Our work

A storymap showcasing project actions led by the River Communities group

Find out more about Preventing Plastic Pollution

Visit the project website for news, events, and resources

Download the ArcGIS risk model toolkit here: PPP ArcGIS Macroplastic Risk Model [2,839KB]

Staff funded through the project:

Partners involved are: 

  • Queen Mary University of London
  • LABOCEA Conseil, Expertise et Analyses
  • Syndicat mixte établissement public de gestion et d’aménagement de la baie de Douarnenez
  • Office Français De La Biodiversité, Parc naturel marin d’Iroise
  • Brest Métropole
  • Centre national de la recherche scientifique
  • Counseil départemental de la Manche
  • Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer
  • Environment Agency
  • The Rivers Trust
  • Syndicat de bassin de l’Elorn
  • ACTIMAR
  • Brest’aim
  • Westcountry Rivers Trust
  • South East Rivers Trust
  • Plymouth City Council
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
  • University of Plymouth
Back to top