Context
Plastic pellet spills, also known as nurdles, represent a growing threat to marine and coastal ecosystems, economic activities and public health. These small granules, used as raw material by the plastics industry, can enter the aquatic environment at different stages of the supply chain, particularly as a result of accidents during maritime transport.
In recent years, several plastic pellet pollution incidents have occurred in different regions of the world, highlighting the transboundary nature of the problem and the difficulties associated with its management. Unlike oil spills, pellets have a specific behaviour in the marine environment: they are difficult to detect at sea, can disperse widely and accumulate in coastal areas, where clean-up requires intensive and prolonged work.
At present, environmental emergency response frameworks do not have sufficiently standardised procedures adapted to this type of pollution. This situation highlights the need to develop scientific knowledge, predictive models, operational tools and specific protocols to improve institutional preparedness and response to this type of incident.
Objectives
POLARIS aims to improve preparedness, coordination and response capacity for environmental emergencies caused by accidental plastic pellet spills in European regions.
To this end, the project works on the generation of new knowledge on the behaviour of pellets in the marine and coastal environment, through laboratory experiments, short- and medium-term predictive modelling, risk assessment and the optimisation of monitoring and clean-up techniques.
In addition, POLARIS will develop guidelines, best practices and digital tools to strengthen institutional preparedness, improve coordination between public administrations and response teams, and facilitate the management of volunteer networks in emergency situations.
The project also includes training and capacity-building activities for authorities, operational response teams and journalists, with the aim of strengthening institutional preparedness, improving risk communication and promoting a culture of prevention and response to this type of pollution.
Expected impact
POLARIS will help strengthen the European civil protection system through specific tools, methodologies and resources to enable faster, more coordinated and more effective action in response to plastic pellet spills.
Its main outputs include manuals and best practices for local authorities, an operational manual for response teams, hazard, vulnerability and risk maps, digital tools for pollution monitoring, and a web-based decision-support system, POLARIS DSS.
The project will also generate training scenarios, specialised modules for journalists and a large-scale international exercise on plastic pellet spills, incorporating virtual reality technologies.
These resources will make it possible to improve the preparedness of authorities, response teams, social stakeholders and citizens, strengthening cross-border cooperation, public awareness and environmental resilience in European coastal areas in the face of this type of emergency.
