OSPAR's Second OSPAR Regional Action Plan (RAP ML 2) sets out the policy context for OSPAR’s work to address marine litter within the North-East Atlantic and directly contributes to delivering the marine litter objectives of the North-East Atlantic Environment Strategy 2030. The RAP ML 2 describes priority thematic areas and defines key actions where the OSPAR Commission can best contribute to tackling this ubiquitous challenge.
You can read the full text of the RAP ML 2 here
Stakeholder engagement consultation responses
Action overview table
Follow the hyperlinks in the table for more information on each of the actions
Action Number | Action Title | Lead & Support | Completion status |
Theme A: Actions to reduce land-based sources of marine litter | |||
A.1.1 | Prevent and reduce plastic waste by coastal municipalities and cities | Germany | |
A.2.1 | Prevent the release of bio-carriers to the marine and riverine environment | Sweden and France Support from Surfrider | |
A.2.2 | Reduce macro litter losses in wastewater treatment systems | France | |
A.3.1 | Monitor, prevent and reduce riverine inputs of macro litter to the marine environment and share knowledge on micro litter monitoring | France, Belgium, Netherlands Support from Germany and KIMO | |
A.4.1 | Define measures and strategies for the phasing out or restriction of use of single use plastics prone to become marine litter in complement to the EU SUP Directive | France and Seas at Risk Support from Denmark and Netherlands | |
A.4.2 | Reduce the impact of expanded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene (EPS / XPS) in the marine environment – development of OSPAR products: | Portugal Support from Denmark | |
A.5.1 | Prevent inputs of microplastics from selected land-based sources in the marine environment | Germany Support from Netherlands and Seas At Risk | |
A.5.2 | Reduce microplastic contamination from artificial grass | KIMO and United Kingdom Support from Norway and Sweden | |
Theme B: Actions to reduce sea-based sources of marine litter | |||
B.1.1 | Harmonise practises related to the provision and use of Port Reception Facilities | Belgium Support from Netherlands, Portugal and KIMO | |
B.1.2 | Reduce microplastics from ship greywater discharges | Lead tbc SAR can support | |
B.2.1 | Manage end-of-life recreational vessels | United Kingdom Support from Belgium and Sweden | |
B.3.1 | Identify the need for measures to reduce the unintentional release of microplastics resulting from paint, anti-fouling paint and other marine coatings used by [commercial] marine vessels | Lead tbc | |
B.4.1 | Prevent, locate, retrieve and handle ALDFG | Sweden as task manager for the part on the Gap analysis on the application of the FAO guideline Support from Germany, Spain and ACOPS | |
B.4.2 | Stimulate circular design and developments in waste management of fishing and aquaculture gear | Netherlands and UK Support from Denmark | |
B.4.3 | Promote practical solutions for reducing the impact of certain specific fishing related items, such as net cuttings and dolly rope | Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and KIMO Support from Seas at Risk | |
B.4.4 | Address recreational fishing as a source for marine litter | Portugal Support from Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Sweden | |
B.4.5 | Raise awareness and improve education in the fishing sector, including the strengthening of the OSPAR recommendations on Fishing for litter and on Sustainability Education Programmes for Fishers | Netherlands Support from KIMO | |
B.4.6 | To identify and understand the main sources of entanglement of sea turtles in the Eastern Atlantic and to develop adequate management measures | Spain | |
B.4.7 | Prevent and reduce marine litter from aquaculture | United Kingdom Support from Norway and Sweden | |
B.5.1 | Plastic materials in the marine environmentIdentify | United Kingdom through Offshore Industry Committee (OIC) | |
B.5.2 | Plastic substances contained in offshore chemicalsDevelop | United Kingdom through Offshore Industry Committee (OIC) | |
Theme C: Cross cutting actions | |||
C.1.1 | Prevent microplastic pollution resulting from plastic pellet, powder and flake loss | Netherlands and United Kingdom With support from Denmark, France, Germany, KIMO and Seas at Risk | |
C.2.1 | Understand the location of litter accumulations | Portugal and Spain With support from the CleanAtlantic project | |
C.3.1 | Improve evidence base on harm in relation to marine litter | Germany | |
C.4.1 | Bridge the gap between monitoring and policy | United Kingdom Support from Denmark, Ireland, Norway and marine litter monitoring expert group leads | |
