The Clean Atlantic Project is financed by the European Union (EU) through INTERREG Atlântico to the sum of €3.2 million and intends to assess the problem of marine rubbish in the Atlantic Ocean until 2020.

The consortium involves 13 entities including research centres, universities and government departments in five countries - Portugal, the UK, Ireland, Spain and France – that conduct studies into the Atlantic Ocean dynamics to try and understand how the rubbish is transported by the currents and where it comes from.

The regional government in Madeira wants to use the data to decide on measures to fight marine rubbish while also calling the attention of schools and the general public to the problem.