From monitoring to mitigation: Reduce local riverine litter

Get a practical roadmap for preventing litter from reaching rivers and the sea

An estimated 80% of plastic waste entering the ocean originates from land-based sources, with rivers and waterways acting as major pathways transporting litter from cities to the sea.

This also means that municipalities and other local stakeholders located along rivers and waterways have a unique opportunity to stop litter before it reaches the Baltic Sea.

But where should efforts begin? Which measures are most effective? And how can municipalities work together with businesses and other local stakeholders to create lasting impact?

During this free webinar, we will present the Mitigation Roadmap developed through the Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP) project. Based on experiences from the COP pilot cities, the roadmap provides a practical, step-by-step approach to identifying litter hotspots, understanding pollution sources, selecting appropriate mitigation measures and evaluating their impact.

Through practical examples and lessons learned, participants will gain concrete tools and inspiration for local action. All participants will receive the complete Mitigation Roadmap and accompanying COP publications after the webinar.

What you’ll learn

During the webinar, we’ll guide you through a practical roadmap for tackling river litter:

• Find your hotspots: Learn how to identify litter hotspots and the most common types of litter.
• Identify the sources: Understand where the litter comes from and how stakeholder engagement can help uncover its pathways.
• Choose the right measures: Explore practical mitigation measures and learn how to select solutions that fit your local context.
• Learn from real-world experience: Hear how a municipality has turned monitoring into action and the lessons learned along the way.
• Implement, monitor and adapt: Discover what it takes to achieve lasting impact and why monitoring is key to continuous improvement.

Who should attend?

The webinar is relevant for municipalities, ports, waste management and utility companies, businesses, NGOs, researchers and anyone working to prevent plastic and other litter from reaching rivers, the Baltic Sea and the wider marine environment.

By joining the webinar, you’ll receive

• A practical framework for tackling river litter in your city.
• Inspiration and lessons learned from real-life experiences in the Baltic Sea region.
• The complete Mitigation Roadmap and supporting COP publications to use in your own work.

About Circular Ocean-bound Plastic

The webinar is organised as part of the Circular Ocean-bound Plastic (COP) project, which works to reduce plastic pollution before it reaches the marine environment.

Clean – The Danish Water and Environmental Cluster is the lead partner of the project, which is co-financed by the Interreg South Baltic Programme with funds from the European Regional Development Fund.