Norwegian Quality Controlled Harmonization Assuring Reproducible Monitoring and assessment of plastic pollution (NORqCHARM)

While plastic pollution is regarded as one of the most serious environmental challenge of today, we are still struggling to understand the extend of plastic pollution and it's consequences. A key challenge is the lack of standardized monitoring protocols and a good understanding of what knowledge decisionmakers need to support policy. Using insights from the EU project EUROqCHARM, NORqCHARM will organize a series of workshops with Norwegian stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities to develop a holistic monitoring program for plastics in Norway that is in line with international monitoring efforts. The workshops will cover both macroplastic and microplastic monitoring, involve Norwegian institutions involved in plastic monitoring and research, NGOs and management institutions.

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The overall objective of EU H2020 project EUROqCHARM is to develop optimized, validated and harmonized methods for monitoring and assessment of plastics in the environment, as well as blueprints for standards and recommendations for policy and legislation. EUROqCHARM will establish harmonized methodologies for the monitoring and assessment of macro-, micro- and nanoplastics in the environment with key actors involved in plastic pollution research in Europe. EUROqCHARM will critically review state-of the-art analytical methods and, taking harmonization one step further, validating these methods through interlaboratory comparison studies. The results of EUROQCHARM are important for Norwegian stakeholders and will impact plastic litter monitoring also in Norway. To take advantage of these result in a Norwegian setting NORqCHARM will organize several dissemination activities including the organisation of three (stakeholder) workshops. NORqCHARM will focus on three areas important and relevant for Norway; 1) evaluating the findings on methods for macroplastics in a Norwegian setting, 2) assuring participation of Norwegian laboratories performing microplastic analysis in the EUROqCHARM Interlaboratory comparison study (ILC), 3) standardize sampling of large volume marine water for Nordic coastal and Arctic conditions. NORqCHARM will actively work with the following stakeholder including: Activity 1 Macroplastic: fisheries, aquaculture, construction , WWTPs, NGOs, KNB, MARFO, municipalities, plastic municipal and county Governor, Norwegian Environmental Agency. Activity 2 ILC study: University of Bergen, NGI, NTNU, SINTEF Ocean, NPI, NORCE IMR, Akvaplan-niva, NILU, Fram Centre, UiT, NIBIO, Eurofins Norway, ALS Norway. Activity 3 Marine sampling: the Norwegian Environment Agency, Standard Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute, Color Line, Hurtigruten and Viking Cruises