https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101086071
Plastic pollution in the ocean causes severe damage to marine life and raises growing global environmental concerns. The harm to
marine life and pollution to the ecosystem is devastating our oceans and is causing negative connections to human health. According
to EU Legislation Research, an estimated 9 to 23 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year, and the associated cost is
between €485 million and €1,259 million. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in demand for single-use
plastic, aggravating the long-lasting marine waste problem with an estimated 1.56 billion face masks have entered oceans in 2020
and even more in 2021. This project aims to develop sustainable, scalable, and profitable waste management processes for marine
plastics. The automated plastic waste management and product innovation processes aim for environmental sustainability. Extensive
training and knowledge exchange activities will be carried out among the world-leading scientist group through a total of 160
person-months of structured staff exchanges between 15 research institutes.
The scientists in this group share the common objective to develop the CUPOLA processes for marine plastic waste recycling. Thermal
and thermochemical conversion technologies will be applied to produce high-value marketable products. Full process modelling,
techno-economic and life cycle analysis will be carried out to provide vital information about the feasibility of the novel process.
CUPOLA will create a multi-disciplinary consortium consisting of process engineers, chemists, environmental scientists, and process
modellers, and develop the innovative and economic waste-to-product process, closing the gap in the circular economy. It will
produce multiple avenues for career development, cross-sectorial experience, and academic training in a multi-cultural,
interdisciplinary and intersectoral environment, and lead to achieving SDGs 3, 12 and 14.