How everwave is saving our oceans
The Germany-based start-up is removing waste from rivers around the world - and protecting the oceans in the process.
Ocean researchers predict that around 80 million tons of plastic waste will be floating in the oceans by 2025 - and around eight million more per year.  
The global challenge arises from the fact that more and more waste is being produced, which ends up in the environment due to a lack of disposal systems. This also applies to rivers, which are the main transporters of waste into the oceans. When it was founded in December 2018, the German start-up everwave decided to tackle this problem with a holistic approach: everwave is all about collecting waste and preventing it from ending up in the water in the first place.

Taking responsibility
Germany is the European leader when it comes to waste production. And Germany is happy to export this waste, especially to countries that do not yet have a well-developed waste management system. The exported waste then ends up in landfill sites and from there it is not far away from rivers (e.g. due to rainfall or storms). It is difficult to say how much waste Germany exports, as there are no clear figures for some material flows. In the case of plastic waste, for example, 720 million kilos of waste were exported from Germany in 2021; in the case of textile waste, 6 kg of waste was exported per inhabitant (i.e. almost 480 million kilograms of waste).  In short: a lot of waste for which everwave takes responsibility together with corporate partners.
Today, the start-up has 40 employees. “everwave,” explains CEO and co-founder Clemens Feigl, “symbolizes our holistic approach to solutions. We stand for a positive wave of change towards a responsible society for healthy oceans. We are closing the loop with structural change and taking responsibility.”

Detect, collect, recycle, inspire.
The start-up uses waste collection boats that are already in use in Europe and Asia. The start-up now uses a total of three waste collection boats and has already collected over 1.5 million kilograms of waste from rivers such as the Chao Praya and the Mekong since its first deployment in 2020. The cleanup projects are supplemented by drones that scan the waste. The images are then analyzed by artificial intelligence in cooperation with the German Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence, allowing conclusions to be drawn about the composition and origin of the waste. The collected material can also be recycled more effectively with local recycling partners. “It's fascinating to see how a simple idea to clean up the world becomes something real and has a positive impact on the world,” says Dr. Tilman Flöhr, CTO of everwave and co-founder of the company.
The success of everwave depends on economic factors. “The years of research, the development of the technology and ultimately more and more deployments around the world are expensive for young companies like us,” says CEO Clemens Feigl. It is true that everwave can rely on the support of long-standing partnerships with well-known companies such as Mastercard, Grohe and the Audi Environmental Foundation and, most recently, on well-known investors. But the more rivers everwave clears of waste, the higher the costs. “Our goal is to make environmental protection profitable. That's the only way to make it sustainable,” says Feigl.

“Plastic Credits” give waste a value again
everwave was one of the first companies to introduce the concept of “Plastic Credits”. Here, everwave collects waste from rivers on behalf of companies. Similar to the principle of CO2 compensation, companies can offset their waste or plastic footprint in this way. For every euro, everwave collects one kilogram of waste from bodies of water, uses artificial intelligence for evaluation and further develops local recycling structures. This is not just an opportunity for everwave. “We are explicitly offering a solution to those companies that want to take on ecological responsibility,” says CEO Feigl. “Business and environmental protection, which are often seen as opposing forces, are thus working hand in hand.”
Thanks to Plastic Credits, the collected material is given its own value. “It's a bit like turning waste into a currency.”
The economic value is only part of the story. The ecological potential of the plastic is just as great. Jacqueline Plaster, who is part of the research & development team at everwave, says. “Plastic waste is seen as useless and worthless in many places. In reality, it is a valuable resource and should be used as such,” she says. If designed sustainably and intelligently, plastic waste can be fed into a circular economy without losing any of its efficient properties - instead of being incinerated, as is so often the case. This is also what everwave wants to achieve for its waste. For this reason, everwave is intensively involved in setting up new recycling infrastructures at its various locations. The start-up not only collects waste in Cambodia and Thailand, but now also operates its own sorting stations where, for example, recyclable plastic can be sorted out and given to local customers for further use.
In addition, everwave raises public awareness of the problem of waste in the oceans and rivers. Through keynotes and PR work,everwave raises awareness and builds bridges to explain why we in Germany have a responsibility for waste. To implement a circular economy and build new infrastructures in the countries of operation, everwave is also in contact with politicians and non-profit and corporate stakeholders.
This closes the circle and everwave implements a holistic approach to solving the global waste problem with “Detect, Collect, Recycle, Inspire”.
In line with the vision: technical innovation, ecological inspiration.

 

Get more information on the everwave Website.