Balt-Plast-Free Launches Joint Work Across Finland and Estonia
Balt-Plast-Free has officially begun its operational work, bringing Finnish and Estonian partners together to prepare the ground for three years of joint microplastics monitoring and reduction efforts in wastewater treatment plants.
Kick-off: shared plan, shared methods
During the project’s kick-off meeting in October, partners reviewed the full project plan, confirmed division of responsibilities, and agreed on the practical working methods for the coming months. The meeting focused especially on aligning timelines for protocol development, sampling campaigns, communication tasks, and pilot preparations.
Joint protocol development in Finland and Estonia
A central early task of Balt-Plast-Free is to create harmonised protocols for sampling, pretreatment, and analysis of microplastics (>100 µm) in wastewater and sludge. This is essential: baseline measurements and later pilot evaluations must be comparable across all Finnish and Estonian sites.
Teams from LUT University, KBFI, and TalTech have already begun this work. Protocol development is ongoing in both countries simultaneously, with partners testing procedures, refining contamination-control steps, and validating analytical approaches. Once validated, these harmonised protocols will be used by all sampling teams and laboratories involved in the project.
Baseline work and upcoming benchmarking
When the harmonised protocols are finalised, partners will begin baseline sampling in selected wastewater treatment plants in both countries. This baseline will show current microplastic loads before any technical measures are piloted.
In parallel, Balt-Plast-Free will take part in several upcoming events and seminars focused on microplastic pollution and recent research. These will help benchmark our approaches against broader scientific developments and strengthen the shared understanding among the project team and external stakeholders.
Setting the stage for cross-border impact
The project’s early months focus on building the common foundation: shared methods, aligned practices, and coordinated schedules. This groundwork ensures that later results are directly comparable and useful for wastewater operators, regulators, and stakeholders.
Balt-Plast-Free now moves from planning to practical implementation, with partners in Finland and Estonia jointly preparing the protocols and analyses.
Follow us for updates on our work at LinkedIn: Balt-Plast-Free | LinkedIn .
