The Saïdia Demo Site in Morocco focuses on Detection and Monitoring, Collection and Valorisation, and Prevention and Zero Waste, addressing beach litter, microplastics, and floating plastic hotspots. Located in the north-eastern region of Morocco, Saïdia is a seaside town with 14 km of beach, strong tourism potential, a growing marina, hotels, golf courses, and leisure and fishing activities. Tourism and urbanisation have increased pressure on the coast and the surrounding region, while plastic waste deposited in the Moulouya River can be transported towards the sea. The site works with community actors, public authorities, entities, volunteers, university partners, environmental associations, and local stakeholders to support plastic collection, monitoring, awareness, and zero-waste transition.
Watch a visual introduction to the site:
The Saïdia Demo Site aims to become a strong Moroccan reference point for plastic litter monitoring and collection. Its planned actions include beach clean-ups, seabed litter monitoring, dredging and diving to collect plastic litter, floating litter removal during fishing, replication of river-cleaning technology, marina microplastic filtration, and the use of an underwater drone equipped with a camera and microplastic sampling unit. The site’s expected outputs include more than 40 plastic litter collection campaigns, more than 200 kg collected per campaign, and 8 tonnes of plastic removed, while longer-term projections include more than 360 kg of plastic removed each year along Saïdia beach, around 40 tonnes removed through the river-cleaning system, more than 7 kg of microplastics and other pollutants removed annually through marina filtration, and prevention of 25 tonnes of single-use plastic waste through zero-waste supply chains.
The Saïdia work gained visibility during the REMEDIES 3-day event in Oujda, Morocco, held from 28 to 30 November 2023 at Mohammed Premier University (MOH). The event brought together the 3rd REMEDIES General Assembly, the 1st REMEDIES Cluster Meeting, a monitoring workshop, and a beach clean-up and monitoring campaign. The first day focused on project progress and future objectives, while the second day opened wider dialogue through the 1st REMEDIES Cluster Meeting in Oujda, which connected REMEDIES with UPSTREAM, the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters, EMODnet, Moroccan regional environmental actors, universities, NGOs, Infordata, Wasser 3.0, Marine Conservation Greece (MCG), and other stakeholders under the question of whether we can escape the tide of plastic marine litter pollution.
Monitoring was also a central element of the Oujda event. During the monitoring workshop and first beach litter monitoring campaign in Morocco, partners discussed beach and seafloor litter monitoring, polymer identification, handheld NIR devices, data collection, EMODnet reporting, the REMEDIES mobile app, PADI AWARE’s Dive Against Debris approach, and Fishing for Litter practices. On 30 November 2023, the first beach litter monitoring campaign took place on a 100-metre section of Saïdia beach, where partners collected all litter items larger than 2.5 cm, sorted them using the TG ML J-List method, tested the PlasTell handheld NIR device by MATOHA, and used the REMEDIES mobile app developed by Infordata for categorising and reporting litter. The exercise collected 747 litter items, weighing 13.39 kg, and helped prepare local partners to conduct regular monitoring independently.
The hands-on action continued with the 1st Moroccan Beach Clean-Up, co-organised by Mohammed Premier University (MOH), the University of Maribor (UM), and Venice Lagoon Plastic Free (VLPF), in collaboration with the NGOs Association Homme & Environnement and Ecoloplatforme de la région de l’Oriental, as well as Ras El Ma High School. More than 40 volunteers and students joined the action on the shoreline of Ras El Ma, near the border with Algeria, removing more than 360 kg of total litter, including 160 kg of plastic litter. This clean-up demonstrated the importance of knowledge transfer and local mobilisation, while creating a basis for larger clean-up events in Morocco.
In 2025, Saïdia became the centre of the REMEDIES Anti-Litter Campaign in Morocco, led by Mohammed Premier University (MOH) in partnership with Ecoloplatform du Maroc du Nord. Running from May to August 2025, the campaign aimed to reduce plastic pollution, activate local engagement, showcase REMEDIES technologies, mobilise communities, researchers, institutions, students, civil society and local authorities, and promote scalable circular solutions across the Mediterranean. At the heart of the campaign were two key technologies: the Aerial Drone & AI Solution, developed by Mohammed Premier University (MOH), and the REMEDIES Shoreline Marine Litter App v.1.0, developed by Infordata.
The Aerial Drone & AI Solution is one of the flagship technologies connected to the Saïdia Demo Site. Developed and owned by Mohammed Premier University (MOH), the solution uses drones, high-resolution images and videos, and deep-learning algorithms to identify and classify marine plastic litter in coastal areas, rivers, and seas. It supports rapid, large-scale monitoring, real-time data analysis, dynamic pollution mapping, and targeted clean-up planning. The technology has been tested in Saïdia and aims to progress from TRL 5 to TRL 8 by the end of 2026, making it ready for large-scale implementation in real-world environments. A dedicated technology presentation is available through the Aerial Drone & AI video.
This innovation was also presented at the 1st African SDEWES Conference, where Mohammed Premier University (MOH) showcased the Aerial Drone and AI Technology as part of wider discussions on sustainable development, system integration, and resource efficiency. The presentation highlighted how advanced drone systems equipped with AI algorithms can monitor, detect, and support marine litter collection in hard-to-access coastal and riverine environments, contributing to smart waste management systems and data-driven environmental action.
The Saïdia Anti-Litter Campaign also included two PLASTIC FANTASTIC Webinars designed to strengthen knowledge exchange and public engagement. The 5th PLASTIC FANTASTIC Webinar, held on 3 July 2025, focused on Beach Litter Monitoring and featured Venice Lagoon Plastic Free (VLPF) on monitoring methodologies, Mohammed Premier University (MOH) with updates from the Saïdia Demo Site, Impact Hub Athens (IHA) with a programme-wide outreach perspective, and Infordata and VITO presenting the REMEDIES Shoreline Marine Litter App v.1.0, which enables real-time litter logging, citizen science participation, and standardised coastal monitoring aligned with EMODnet guidelines. The 6th PLASTIC FANTASTIC Webinar, held on 23 July 2025, focused on Plastic Identification and introduced the Aerial Drone & AI Solution, while the University of Maribor (UM) shared knowledge on plastic types, recyclability, conscious consumption, and practical tools for recognising and categorising plastic waste. A dedicated July 2025 update is available through the Saïdia REMEDIES Demo Site video.
Together, the Saïdia Demo Site updates show how Morocco is contributing to the REMEDIES mission through a strong combination of field monitoring, community clean-ups, AI-enabled drone technology, citizen science tools, plastic identification training, beach litter monitoring, and cross-Mediterranean knowledge exchange. From Oujda and Ras El Ma to the Saïdia coastline, the Demo Site demonstrates how local universities, NGOs, students, public actors, technology partners, and international collaborators can work together to detect, monitor, collect, and prevent marine plastic pollution before it reaches wider Mediterranean waters.
