RIVEROOT: Headwaters Plastic Retention Observatory & Smart Prevention Pilot

  • RIVEROOT – Headwaters Plastic Retention Observatory & Smart Prevention Pilot – was selected for funding under UPSTREAM Open Call 1 (Collection and Valorisation), an EU Horizon Europe Mission Ocean project. The pilot is led by the Machairas Community Complex, a cluster of seven rural communities in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, with KP INNOSERV acting as technical consultant.

    The Machairas hills are the headwaters of the Gialias and Alikos rivers. In the dry season, litter from recreation and rural settlements settles in the streambeds; winter flash floods then carry it downstream towards the Mediterranean.

    RIVEROOT intercepts plastic at the source. It maps retention hotspots and runs monthly litter audits, pilots a removable passive litter trap (a floating boom guiding litter into a mesh collection cage, targeting over 60% capture of macro-plastics), installs Smart Waste Capture Points with QR reporting, and engages 100+ students as River Guardians. Captured plastics are sorted for recycling, and all results feed an open dataset and a Practical Replication Guide for rural regions across Europe.

  • K. P. INNOSERV LTD is the technical consultant of the RIVEROOT project, working alongside the Machairas Community Complex.

    We specified and sourced the removable passive litter trap, supported its installation and safe operation (including retraction within two hours on flash-flood warnings), and support the hotspot mapping, the litter audit methodology, capacity building for local stakeholders, and the project communication and dissemination material.

  • Machairas Community Complex (Lythrodontas, Cyprus) – Lead Beneficiary

    K. P. INNOSERV LTD (Nicosia, Cyprus) – Technical consultant

    UPSTREAM consortium, coordinated by Fundación AITIIP (Zaragoza, Spain) – Funding programme (Open Call 1) and mentoring

UPSTREAM project logo

RIVEROOT has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the UPSTREAM OC1 Collection and Valorisation open call issued and executed under the UPSTREAM project (Grant Agreement no. 101112877). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them, and the UPSTREAM Consortium is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

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