Project: Baltic Beach Wrack – Conversion of a Nuisance To a Resource and Asset (CONTRA)

The CONTRA project compiles the knowledge required for sustainable management of beach wrack in the Baltic Sea Region and carries out case studies for beach wrack treatment.

Facts about the project

Project manager
William Hogland
Other project members
Yahya Jani, Juris Burlakovs, Jelena Lundström and Varvara Sachpazidou, Linnaeus University
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University, University of Rostock, Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, EUCC - Coastal Union Germany, KS-VTCtech GmbH Association of Polish Communes Euroregion Baltic, Estonian Ministry of Environment, University of Tartu, Atlantic Branch of Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, RAS University of Southern Denmark, Krinova AB, Municipality of Køge, Gdańsk University of Technology, Hanseatic Environment CAM GmbH
Financier
Interreg Baltic Sea Region
Timetable
1 Jan 2019-30 June 2021
Subject
Ecology (Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences)
Research group
The Environmental Science and Engineering Group (ESEG)
Webbplats
www.beachwrack-contra.eu
Facebook
www.facebook.com/beachwrack.CONTRA (@beachwrack.CONTRA)

More about the project

Beach wrack is organic material washed ashore, e.g. torn off sea grass or brown algae. The Beach wrack that has great involvement of eelgrass can have a significant increase in the heavy metal content. It can cover Baltic Sea beaches for weeks after storms, rotting into a smelly soup and leaking nutrients back into the water. Managing beach wrack is an issue for local authorities and the tourism industry, in particular of the western and southern Baltic Sea.

Beach wrack is often regarded as a nuisance, particularly when it lands unexpectedly and in large quantities on tourist beaches. Local authorities have to pay a lot of money to collect and dispose of it. The challenge is to find a balance between public demand for ‘clean’ beaches, environmental protection and the economy.

Objectives:

Test and propose utilization/recycling options that are sustainable & economically viable
Investigate and define value chains, market opportunities & legal frameworks for wrack based products.
Analyze its recycling potential for pollution & nutrient remediation • Improve knowledge about the role & importance of beach wrack
Raise awareness about the impact of beach cleaning operations
Reduce the costs of problematic beach wrack for local authorities

The project is part of the research in the research group The Environmental Science and Engineering Group (ESEG)