A toolbox for intetegrated plastics pollution assessment

A recently published paper presents the first integrated assessment of plastic pollution at the Kura River delta, where the river enters the hydrologically enclosed Caspian Sea. A team of scientists has applied a modular toolbox comprising four complementary components:

1) high-resolution hydrodynamic modeling to predict debris convergence zones

2) UAV-based mapping to survey shoreline conditions

3) automated object-based image analysis for debris detection

4) classification, and standardized field monitoring by trained community participants for ground-truthing and source identification.

Using this framework, we identified debris accumulation hotspots and developed a replicable approach for assessing plastic pollution in semi-enclosed systems. Surveys along a 1.2 km shoreline recorded over 600 items, dominated by beverage containers by count and marine-sourced plastics by weight.

Figure:. Mosaic representation of the integrated methodological toolbox applied in the Caspian Sea pilot area at the Kura River mouth, illustrating its main components: hydrodynamic modeling, UAV-based remote sensing and image analysis, field surveys and clean-ups, data processing, reporting, regulation, and the growth of community engagement across sectors during the project.

Transboundary inputs were confirmed through labeled debris from five countries. The initiative also expanded institutional collaboration, trained over 150 participants, and established a local monitoring network. These findings highlight the value of integrating technical diagnostics with community engagement to enable scalable, site-adapted responses to plastic pollution.

The work is part of the CRIPTIC project that has been financed by the Norwegian Retailers' Environmental Fund. The recently published scientific paper can be downloaded here: River-to-sea plastic pollution: A pilot toolbox for the Caspian Sea - ScienceDirect

Read more about the Norwegian Retailers' Environmental Fund: https://handelensmiljofond.no/...

More about the CRIPTIC project: https://akvaplan.no/no/prosjek...