Marine litter, in particular derelict fishing gear, is a growing environmental threat, posing risks to wildlife and humans and impacting crucial economic sectors, such as fisheries and the maritime sector. This year, the European Maritime Day will focus on the role of ports and coasts as gateways to maritime growth, addressing job creation, sustainability and competitiveness. Healthy Seas is there, organizing a workshop on innovative business models for marine litter in Europe.

European Maritime Day 2015

The European Maritime Day 2015 will take place in Piraeus, Greece, from 28 to 31 May 2015. The platform welcomes Europe’s growing maritime community joining policy makers to discuss, debate and exchange best practices. The seas and oceans, and the opportunities they offer, are at the heart of the discussions.

Marine litter is a symbol of a resource-inefficient society

Healthy Seas together with its partners, MIO-ECSDE and MEDASSET, organizes a workshop on 28 May which will highlight the importance of solutions that are integrated into scalable business models involving cross-sectoral collaboration which help to prevent and minimise marine litter in Europe. The fisheries, maritime and environmental sectors are closely interlinked since competitiveness depends on the conservation of natural resources. Great benefits can be obtained by combining Europe’s ambitions for achieving “blue growth” in the maritime economy and “green growth” that protects the environment. It would boost development in those sectors and foster circular economy that prevents the loss of valuable materials.

Waste is too valuable to be wasted

There are various showcases for circular economy and sustainability at a regional and European level. Healthy Seas is one of them, highlighting that “waste is too valuable to be wasted”. The initiative recovers abandoned fishing nets that pollute European seas and coasts and regenerates the nylon from the nets into high-quality yarn which is then turned into brand-new textiles.

Invitation

The workshop ‘Innovative business models for marine litter in Europe’ will take place on Thursday 28 May 2015 from 09:00 to 10:30 in the Trianti Hall. For more information, please go to: http://ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/maritimeday/en/programme-items/innovative-business-models-marine-litter-europe