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Evidence on plastic pollution has already been gathered in both the freshwater systems and the marine environment (including the Danube and the Black Sea) over the last decades. Scientific investigations identified strong linkages between marine pollution, terrestrial areas and land-based activities. Poor waste management, everyday littering, plastic industry facilities, consuming of products of textile and cosmetic industries in households and tire abrasion pollute rivers that further discharge plastic litter into the receiving seas. While priority should be given to reducing plastic pollution at source, river clean-up actions are also highly important to eliminate plastic litter accumulation hot-spots.

VIENNA, 29 August (ICPDR) – The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is committed to maintaining and preserving the cleanliness, health, and safety of the Danube River Basin.

The Joint Programme of Measures is constructed upon the findings of the pressure analysis and the assessment of water status. These serve as the foundation for updating the Danube River Basin Management Plan, incorporating measures of basin-wide significance aligned with the established visions and management objectives outlined in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for the year 2027.

The EU Water Framework Directive aims to make all waters cleaner and healthier. To meet these requirements, the ICPDR's Danube River Basin Management Plan closely examines the most important pressures affecting water status.
Significant water management issues, called SWMIs, are the central pressures of basin-wide importance affecting the ecological and chemical status of surface waters, including pollution by organic substances, nutrients, and hazardous substances, as well as hydromorphological alterations. The first interim overview on the Significant Water Management Issues was created in 2007 for the 1st DRBM. The SWMIs outlined in this report were derived based on the requirements of the WFD and mainly related to quality aspects. For transboundary groundwater bodies, both qualitative and quantitative issues are addressed.

Despite the EU's advanced waste management and ambitious recycling objectives, studies still indicate the presence of macro and microplastic pollution in EU rivers. The Tid(y)Up project focuses on improving water quality and reducing plastic pollution in the Tisza River, which is long considered one of Europe’s most heavily contaminated rivers.

The project aims to restore the Danube River Basin for ecosystems and people, an EU ‘Lighthouse Initiative’ supporting the Mission to “Restore our ocean and waters by 2030."Launched in January 2023, DANUBE4all is a 5-year EU "Lighthouse Initiative" project funded by Horizon Europe, aiming to restore freshwater ecosystems in the Danube River Basin.

A recent large-scale modelling study has shown that restoring floodplains and reconnecting cut-off water bodies with the Danube River, and its tributaries could play a significant role in improving water quality and removing nitrate pollution in the Danube River Basin.