Waste Free Oceans has started a new project in Romania, in partnership with Mai Mult Verde, a Romanian environmental organisation. At the end of July, the WFO trash catcher was successfully tested for the first time in Drobeta-Turnu Severin. The trawl can be attached to one or two fishing boats and acts as a trap for floating debris by filtering surface water. With this new collaboration, WFO aims to fight marine litter pollution more efficiently.
A sample of the material collected with the trawl in Romania will go to DELTA Engineering & Chemistry GmbH, a Berlin-based company that is active in the field of industrial waste water treatment, as well as treatment of contaminated ground water. Together with its partners, the company creates technologies that increase the efficiency of contaminant removal, while lowering the energy input.
With the WFO project, DELTA aims to create a new way of thinking about ocean plastics: not as waste material, but as valuable raw material that can have a useful and efficient function. DELTA's application has no recycling purpose, but will use a very specific ability of this unwanted material to help clean ground water. This way, the company creates purpose and value for the material and an incentive for people to collect and sell mixed ocean plastics to an industry that is needed all over the globe. As a result, two severe pollution problems are addressed and contribute to each other’s solution.
By working together and sharing our common effort, WFO hopes to reach a wider audience and better raise awareness on the issue of marine litter, showcasing existing solutions to closing the loop for a sustainable future.