Please Take Care of Your Home Keep Amsterdam Clean

Restoring Amsterdam's Waterways: River Cleanup Efforts

In 2023, for a whole year, a researcher monitored 20 selected locations within Amsterdam every two weeks. The 
goal of this monitoring sessions is to map the plastic pollution situation in the city. To effectively tackle the 
problem is fundamental to understand how the plastic moves from the city towards the river as well as which 
plastic items are most found in the waterways.

The next two years of the project will focus on looking at the circularity potential of the different types of plastic 
retrieved in the waterways of Amsterdam and on prevention and policy interventions for single-use plastic. 
The overall goal is to support the city in solving its urban plastic soup and this can be achieved through a 
combination of different actions. Plastic collection from the environment is not enough if the problem is not 
targeted at the source, therefore working on creating awareness and improving the production and management 
of the material is necessary

Plastic pollution is a worldwide threat to humans and the planet and to be successfully addressed it requires a 
strong collaboration between communities, governments, businesses, and knowledge institutions. The structured approach in phases developed by Amsterdam could be entirely replicated or partially replicated 
based on another location needs. For example, different companies could be involved (from the list above) based 
on the local needs, the severity of plastic pollution in the location and the available budget. AMS Institute is willing to guide and advice on the process, share lessons learned and the experience gained 
during this project, to support its replication in other cities and countries.

Restoring Amsterdam's Waterways: River Cleanup Efforts

In 2023, for a whole year, a researcher monitored 20 selected locations within Amsterdam every two weeks. The 
goal of this monitoring sessions is to map the plastic pollution situation in the city. To effectively tackle the 
problem is fundamental to understand how the plastic moves from the city towards the river as well as which 
plastic items are most found in the waterways.