1. River litter is never “away”
Gijsbert Tweehuysen
Waste Free Waters
Klimmen, Nov 2012

2. The “R’s” of plastics
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Greece
Lithuania
Cyprus
Malta
Bulgaria
Poland
Romania
Latvia
Ireland
Slovenia
UK
Estonia
Portugal
Spain
Czechia
Finland
Hungary
Slovakia
Italy
France
Luxembourg
Norway
Netherlands
Austria
Belgium
Sweden
Germany
Denmark
Switzerland
Refuse
Reduce
Re-use
Recycle
Recover
It’s not just what we do right,
but what happens to the waste
we do not “R…”!

3. The rest…
landfill
Incineration without
energy recovery

4. extraction
distribution
production
refining/synthese
spreading/
pollution
back-to-feedstock
energy recovery
recycling
re-use
endproduct
Physical product
Semi-finished
products
Raw
materials
Depletable
resources
Added Value Lost Value
Closed
Material
chain
wasteuse
Sustainable
resources
value
Managing added value and lost value

5. Littered products, gets fragmented

6. Leaks…
• Leaks from waste management streams
Kerkrade

7. Leaks…
• Contaminated re-used building debris
Weustenrade

8. Leaks…
• Leaks from logistic processes
Geleen

9. Leaks…
• Illegal dumping
Checked out at night by foxes

10. Thunderstorms wash litter from land
Shelfclouds in Weustenrade

11. Finally into a river
80% of marine litter comes from land
Eijsden
Lixhe

12. plastic pellets (nurdles) mimic nature

13. Effects on wildlife
Fish caught in Lake Ontario

14. rivers connect land and sea
Maasband

15. Tranporting litter to the oceans!
… Pollutants such as PCBs, DDT, flame retardants, and pesticides stick to plastic
particles in the marine environment. Small fish mistake plastic for food. Plastic
particles were found in the stomachs of roughly 35% of the 661 lantern fish
collected at sea. Big fish (Tuna, Mahi Mahi, squid) eat smaller fish, we eat bigger
fish.
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
Lantern fish

16. Project Mosa Pura
Latin for “Clean Meuse”

17. A challenging goal…
In 2020 the Meuse is clean in
Mook

18. Starting at the Meuse in Maastricht…

19. “understanding” river litter
• Litter, floating or in suspension
• Degradable or persistent litter,
• Micro litter or macro litter,
• Residence time in the rivershed,
• Possible sources,
• Etc…
And develop solutions near the source.

20. Research sampling equipment
(under construction)
Surface net
1 m width
Suspension net
½ m2 opening
Catamaran
shaped
pontoon

21. Sampling weekly from september till june
Discharge m3/s in Eijsden
from 1990 - 2000
De Blauwe Reiger

22. Where does it go?
Sinks on
•Land
•Riverbed
•Seafloor
•Beaches

23. Floating litter deposited on riverbanks
Eijsden

24. Suspended litter, entangled in trees and
vegetation
Eijsden

25. Large parts (macro-plastics)
Stein

26. Small parts (micro-plastics)
Borgharen

27. Connect to flood prevention programs…
“Room For Rivers” to prevent flooding
means:
Spreading debris over the entire floodplain!
Itteren

28. The Message:
• River Litter is a problem caused by all of us…
• and at the same time a problem of none of us…
• There can only be a solution in a combined approach,
working on it with all the stakeholders together.
– Governments
– Govenmental organisations
– Industry and NGO’s
– Research institutes and Education
– The Public
– Across borders
together

29. Together…??? Yes…!!! Together…!!!
Bron: taalvoutjes (facebook)

30. Dissipate knowledge
…together with Open University (Global NEWS)
PhD project: How do
rivers contribute to
marine debris.
Budi Widianarko from
Unika Soegijapranata
(Semarang-Java)

31. Support events…
“Wereld van Zwerfafval” , made from PET-bottles picked up from the
streets of Amsterdam. Now in the Amsterdam harbour,
soon displayed in the Meuse in Maastricht

32. They appreciate your efforts!

33. Contact
Gijsbert Tweehuysen
Waste Free Waters
together with the
Open University in Heerlen
+31 (0)6 53693382
Waste Free Waters| project Mosa Pura
g.tweehuysen@hotmail.com
www.wastefreewaters.wordpress.com