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Act Now for a Plastic-Free Future
Act Now for a Plastic-Free Future: Join us in reducing plastic waste to protect our rivers.
In the frame of the BeMed + project, the plastic pollution mapping of the Shkumbin River has been completed, for more click here.
One of the components of the BeMed+ project relies on the network of local players to gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding plastic pollution in these two regions and to build and support the implementation of an action plan targeting waste management, the HoReCa sector and the sports sector. Therefore, in order to better understand the regional context, a state of the art of existing studies, scientific projects and other initiatives on the sources and flows of macro and microplastic pollution in the pilot regions is being carried out. Among these studies, and to supplement the data and initiatives that do not exist, the protocol for mapping plastic pollution in rivers developed by Surfrider Foundation Europe has been implemented on the river Shkumbin. This protocol makes it possible to quantify and qualify plastic pollution throughout the catchment area and to draw up a map of the areas where waste accumulates and their typology. The method involves geolocating visible waste (i.e. recording its GPS position) on the banks from a kayak-type boat using a mobile application. The data are collected on different sections of 500 m to 4 km spread evenly throughout the river. The processed data is used to locate the areas of the river most affected and to compare plastic pollution in the river from one year to the next. This report represents the data collected between 05/26/2024 and 05/29/2024 on the river Shkumbin. For the collection of data, we worked closely with the Sports and Tourism Agency in Elbasan and a local group of young people passionate about the sport of rafting.