1. River litter is never “away”
Gijsbert Tweehuysen
Waste Free Waters
Klimmen, Nov 2012
2. The “R’s” of plastics
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Greece
Lithuania
Cyprus
Malta
Bulgaria
Poland
Romania
Latvia
Ireland
Slovenia
UK
Estonia
Portugal
Spain
Czechia
Finland
Hungary
Slovakia
Italy
France
Luxembourg
Norway
Netherlands
Austria
Belgium
Sweden
Germany
Denmark
Switzerland
Refuse
Reduce
Re-use
Recycle
Recover
It’s not just what we do right,
but what happens to the waste
we do not “R…”!
15. Tranporting litter to the oceans!
… Pollutants such as PCBs, DDT, flame retardants, and pesticides stick to plastic
particles in the marine environment. Small fish mistake plastic for food. Plastic
particles were found in the stomachs of roughly 35% of the 661 lantern fish
collected at sea. Big fish (Tuna, Mahi Mahi, squid) eat smaller fish, we eat bigger
fish.
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Lantern fish
19. “understanding” river litter
• Litter, floating or in suspension
• Degradable or persistent litter,
• Micro litter or macro litter,
• Residence time in the rivershed,
• Possible sources,
• Etc…
And develop solutions near the source.
27. Connect to flood prevention programs…
“Room For Rivers” to prevent flooding
means:
Spreading debris over the entire floodplain!
Itteren
28. The Message:
• River Litter is a problem caused by all of us…
• and at the same time a problem of none of us…
• There can only be a solution in a combined approach,
working on it with all the stakeholders together.
– Governments
– Govenmental organisations
– Industry and NGO’s
– Research institutes and Education
– The Public
– Across borders
together
30. Dissipate knowledge
…together with Open University (Global NEWS)
PhD project: How do
rivers contribute to
marine debris.
Budi Widianarko from
Unika Soegijapranata
(Semarang-Java)
31. Support events…
“Wereld van Zwerfafval” , made from PET-bottles picked up from the
streets of Amsterdam. Now in the Amsterdam harbour,
soon displayed in the Meuse in Maastricht
33. Contact
Gijsbert Tweehuysen
Waste Free Waters
together with the
Open University in Heerlen
+31 (0)6 53693382
Waste Free Waters| project Mosa Pura
g.tweehuysen@hotmail.com
www.wastefreewaters.wordpress.com