2024 KIMO International Conference and AGM

This years KIMO International Conference and AGM was hosted by Harlingen in the Netherlands. The conference and AGM brought together many representatives from the member countries to discuss ongoing marine and coastal environmental issues and how KIMO is moving to counter them.  

The conference discussed a wide range of issues and included presentations on the 'Blue Schools Initiative', the Delta Program (which is the flood and water management scheme for the Netherlands) and maritime recycling. The maritime recycling presentation was led by Bek and Verburg. This family run maritime waste business is striving for the goal of “Bare feet on the beach without having to walk through trash”. They have 180 different waste streams and recycle 93% of waste with some of their recycling projects reaching 100% recycling. Some of the waste they recycle goes into ‘Senseo’ coffee machines. 

One of the major successes for KIMO is the 'Fishing for Litter' scheme, which itself originated in the Netherlands in 2004, and has just passed the milestone of 8500 tonnes of litter collected in the Netherlands alone. This scheme is just one of many KIMO success stories over the years.

Members were also taken on an interesting tour of the city looking at the various environmental projects and initiatives taking place. One of the highlights of this tour was the bubble barrier across the canal leading to the sea. This project uses high pressure air pumped through a hose that goes diagonally across the bottom of the canal. This allows it to channel litter to the side of the canal where it can be collected. This helps prevent plastic pollution from flowing into the UNESCO protected Wadden Sea. More information on the bubble barrier can be found here.