May the 19th, 2021 - Krk beaches are set to get a helping hand thanks to a European Union project which aims to tackle the issue of plastic and waste, artificial intelligence and the ever-interesting world of robots.
As Morski/Dejan Kosic writes, in accordance with the strategic commitment aimed at preserving the environment and sustainable development, Ponikve is continuously launching various projects with this aim firmly in mind. Among other things, about a decade or so ago they launched a very well-received project called "Blue Bag/Plava Vreca", and now they are involved in another European Union project called "In-No-Plastic".
It is an innovative approach to the prevention of dumping, the disposal and reuse of marine plastic waste, and the project was launched on October the 1st last year, lasting until September the 30th, 2023. It involves seventeen partners from the European Union, all of whom are interested in reducing the negative impact of plastics on the sea and in the environment in general.
The goal of the project is to develop an efficient and automated solution to prevent wastewater and rainwater pollution by micro and macro plastics that, ultimately, ends up in the seas and oceans and returns to our tables within the food chain.
The total funds provided for this project amount to 7.4 million euros, and the budget proposal for Ponikve eco island of Krk is a little more than 308 thousand euros, of which 70 percent will be withdrawn from a European Union programme called "Horizon 2020", and the rest will be provided by Ponikve. In addition to Ponikve eco island Krk, two other Croatian partners are working on the project, Probotica from Zagreb and Sensum from Rijeka.
As part of this project, selected Krk beaches and bays will have macro plastics removed using innovative automated processes, more precisely - robots. The plastic thus collected along Krk beaches will be processed and useful new items will be made from it.
During the project, environmental cleaning campaigns will be organised using a special mobile application (app). In addition, seven-week demonstrations of the 3D printing of the collected waste from Krk beaches will be held every year at various locations across the island.
In Ponikve, they hope that this project will also be met with a good response from residents and other citizens, whose involvement will contribute to the success of the planned activities.
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