Discover the Zéro Déchet Sauvage platform

The Zéro Déchet Sauvage platform and our partnership with MerTerre

Since its creation in 2000, MerTerre has been developing methods for characterizing diffuse abandoned waste in all types of environment, in order to identify the geographical origins, factors and sectors responsible for pollution. The idea is to enable all players (militant or institutional associations, local authorities, sports clubs, citizens’ groups or schools) wishing to combat this pollution to take action on their own scale, where they are.

To federate these players, link up with existing projects and centralize data, MerTerre has created, with the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle and the support of the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Southern Region, the ReMed Zéro Plastique platforms in 2019 (for the French Mediterranean coast) then Zéro Déchet Sauvage in 2021 (for France and its overseas departments).

As for The SeaCleaners, the association takes action in the field, notably by collecting waste during its onshore collections with the help of its volunteers.

As we explain in this article: sharing data is the key to making progress, as a network, in solving the problem!

Data collected during The SeaCleaners cleanups will be regularly entered on Zéro Déchet Sauvage. The aim of this participatory science platform is to make the most of the data collected during cleanups throughout France.

To achieve this, the MerTerre association has developed a standardized methodology based on 4 levels of more or less detailed protocols. Each structure can thus choose the protocol that suits it best, depending on its experience of characterization, its objectives, the means at its disposal or the context of the operation.

These data (collection context, volumes, weights, material typology, indicator waste, brands collected, etc.) provide valuable quantitative and qualitative data on macro-waste pollution. This information makes it possible to identify the geographical origins and flows of this waste, to target the uses and behaviors that generate it, and to identify the sectors of economic activity at source.

The platform centralizes all the data supplied by The SeaCleaners and its volunteers. The data can be visualized and aggregated. The datavisualisations enable a better understanding of the extent of macro-waste pollution affecting the territory, to observe changes in the quantities of waste present, and thus facilitate the implementation of concrete and targeted actions, with measurable results. They can be used by scientists, decision-makers and the general public alike.

Likewise, MerTerre has developed the Adopt’1 Spot program, an educational participatory science program that enables data to be collected on a pre-defined spot, in order to draw up a precise diagnosis of the macro-waste problem (origin, type of waste, variations according to the weather, etc.). Each participating structure undertakes to carry out a minimum of three collections per year on the same spot. The program is as much aimed at educational structures with a pedagogical objective, as at any other player wishing to contribute to the fight against diffuse waste thanks to the data collected.

Lastly, the platform provides players with resources relating to the problem of widespread abandoned waste, including information on regulations, best practices and clean-up guides.

The aim of this partnership is to maximize the efforts of our two associations!