As part of the programme "Marine Debris Framework – Regional hubs around the globe" (Marine:DeFRAG), the German Federal Environment Agency (BMUV) is to fund for the third time projects that actively contribute to sustainable production, marketing and utilisation of plastic products and thus to preventing the discharge of waste into the seas. For this, the Ministry will provide 25 million euros a year.
 

Projects to establish disposal and recycling structures in countries in the Global South are also to be supported through the programme.
According to estimates, the annual discharge of plastics into the seas will more than double by the year 2040. The BMUV wants to counter this with the programme "Marine Debris Framework – Regional hubs around the globe" (Marine:DeFRAG), which is scheduled to run from 2021 to 2025. In addition, the Ministry is funding, for the third time, various international projects that prevent the waste from being produced in the first place, that deal with the waste that has been produced, and that start where possible at the beginning of the value chain, for example at the product design stage. Funding will also be given to the setting-up of well-functioning waste and circular economy systems for unavoidable waste in countries in the Global South. The supported projects are to be multipliable, connectable and designed over the long term. They could be projects, for example on political consulting, capacity expansion, technology cooperation or the implementation of the respective institutional framework. Apart from countries bordering polluted rivers, the focus of the funding will also be on coastal regions and island nations. The present round of funding, says the BMUV, covers projects dealing with "sustainable material alternatives", "innovative product design and digitalisation in the lifecycle", "establishing and further developing reuse systems", "changing people’s awareness and behaviour with regard to avoiding marine litter", and "circular economy and waste management projects in rural regions". The Marine:DeFRAG offer of funding is directed at federal organisations, NGOs, business companies, universities and research institutes, German branches of international and multilateral organisations, as well as institutions based in Germany, also in cooperation with international partners.

 

Sources:

• www.bmuv.de (Oct. 20, 2022)
• Euwid Recycling und Entsorgung 46/2022 (Nov. 15, 2022)
• Photo: © BKV/Baretto