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EIT Climate-KIC | MEDFreeSUP

The recent EC directive on single-use plastic products (SUP) requires governments to take action to reduce or ban certain SUP to increase plastic waste prevention (PWP). EIT Climate-KIC portfolio lacks applications of the SUP directive that engage experiments with local government citizens and private operators. In terms of innovation, in Europe cities lack of governance systems to enhance reusable solutions adoption to drive behaviour on PWP and abandon SUP products.

Touristic and coastal areas would benefit from a governance system able to target both local communities and tourists, throughout interventions involving foodservice operators, including those located nearby the sea that might impact also on marine littering.

The project will focus on design and setting innovative experiments at the city level to test the application of incentives to replace SUP products with a proven and monitorable environmental impact, and implementing integrated models of stakeholders’ engagement in three countries along the Mediterranean coast, in:

Italy, cities of Emilia-Romagna region, located along the Adriatic coast and of touristic relevance
Croatia, Cres (County Primorsko-goranska) and Zlarin islands, County Šibenik-Knin
Greece, the island of Corfu, in the Ionian seas and in the Aegean Sea, the island of Ikaria and the municipality of Syros island, part of the very touristy Cyclades islands.

The objective of the project is to set replicable protocols voluntary for free single-use plastics food packaging adoption enforced at the city level, for several types of foodservice operators (FO) (cafes, restaurants, foods stores, hotel, beach facilities). The project will provide FO with an inventory of innovative solutions based at environmental and financial levels. FO and cities will promote the protocol and innovation solutions adopted through a platform to engage consumers in proactive behaviours contributing to the solutions replication.

Duration: June 2020 – December 2021