LoOP Zone - Promoting a Circular Economy with Low Plastic Zones on Mediterranean Islands

Interreg Euro Med

Project title: LooP Zone - Promoting a Circular Economy with Low Plastic Zones on Mediterranean Islands

Lead Partner: ARC — MedWaves (Spain)

Project partners: Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (Belgium), Save the Med Association (Spain), Formentera Island Councils (Spain), Messina Foundation (Italy), Municipality of Malfa (Italy), Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable Development Sun (Croatia), Geopark Vis Archipelago (Croatia), Aenaos Thalassa Association (Greece)), Municipality of Skiathos (Greece), Foundation for Regional Development and Dialogue of Malta (Malta), Municipal Council of Zebbug Settlement on the Island of Gozo (Malta)

Brief description of the project and objectives:

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world. Every day, approximately 730 tons of plastic waste enter the sea. Single-use plastic products account for more than 60% of total marine litter.

Although three out of four people support banning single-use plastics, the linear business model in the HORECA sector (hotels, restaurants and cafés) still persists. The HORECA sector generates significant amounts of disposable plastic, particularly during the summer months. As a result, pollution continues to affect Mediterranean destinations that attract more than 200 million visitors annually.

Despite the existence of regional and national regulations, such as the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive, their implementation at the local level still faces several challenges.

LoOP Zone is an Interreg Euro-MED international project focused on reducing the use of single-use plastics on Mediterranean tourist islands. Through the creation of Low Plastic Zones, the project brings together local authorities, the tourism sector and innovators in order to accelerate the implementation of sustainable and circular solutions.

The project brings together 12 partners from six Mediterranean countries, along with 18 associated partners, who will work together to reduce marine pollution and increase the sustainability of the HORECA sector in Mediterranean tourist destinations.

The LoOP Zone project is implemented on five Mediterranean islands that share similar challenges related to plastic pollution, marine litter and tourism seasonality: Vis (Croatia), Formentera (Spain), Salina (Italy), Skiathos (Greece) and Gozo (Malta).

An integrated Low Plastic Zone model will be developed and tested on these islands in order to support the transition towards a circular economy.

The overall objective of the project is to reduce the use of single-use plastics in the catering sector on tourist islands and support hotels, restaurants and cafés in transitioning to sustainable business models and environmentally friendly alternative products.

Project activities

1. Comprehensive analysis of the island context and development of pilot solutions.
2. Testing an integrated three-stage model to reduce the use of single-use plastics in the tourism sector on five islands.
3. Transfer of technical guidelines, policy recommendations and the LoopZone three-stage action model.

Expected results

1. Reduction in the total amount of single-use plastic generated by tourism activities in pilot areas.
2. Testing and validation of the three-stage model for reducing disposable plastics.
3. Increased knowledge and capacity of island communities to address single-use plastic challenges in the HORECA sector.
4. Adoption of joint strategies and action plans for reducing single-use plastics.
5. Development of new local value chains based on sustainable, low-plastic products.

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Total value of the project: 3.999.526,60 EUR

Total budget of the Vis Archipelago Geopark: 160.000,00 EUR

Implementation period: 1.9.2025. - 31.5.2029.

Head of the Vis Archipelago Geopark:Ramona Karuza, MSc. comm.

The official website of the project:LoOP Interreg Euro MED

Linkedln project: Linkedln LoOP Zone Interreg Euro MED

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