Beth Howell
Beth has been writing about the environment and climate change for over four years now – with her work being featured in publications such as The BBC, Forbes, The Express, Greenpeace, and in multiple academic journals.
German start-up Everwave has made it its mission to prevent plastic from entering our oceans. Instead of focusing its efforts on ocean garbage patches, it concentrates its projects on plastic that finds its way into our oceans through riverways.
In partnership with manufacturer company Berky, Everwave has developed highly efficient plastic-collecting boats.
Thanks to their structure, these innovative machines can adapt to the conditions of large rivers, whilst also being able to navigate through smaller channels, collecting huge amounts of waste.
For Everwave, plastic is not the ultimate evil. Rather, it's a valuable material that can be utilized in many aspects of life. They see their mission in meaningfully returning this valuable material to a circular economy so that damage to the environment can be prevented.
Our CEO Joel Tasche met Dr. Tilman Floehr, CTO and Co-Founder of Everwave, during a campaign in Serbia and talked to him about Everwave's mission.
Here's what he had to say.
Q. Can you explain how Everwave works?
A. Through its holistic approach, Everwave is committed to getting waste out of the environment and back into the loop, but also to stopping waste from entering the environment in the first place.
We do this through our cleanup technologies, recycling, artificial intelligence, and data analytics on the technical side — and on the inspirational side through environmental education and creative campaigns.
Q. What technologies has Everwave developed?
A: We have two cleanup technologies.
One is our waste collection boat CollectiX, which we built and operate together with our partner Berky. This boat is an active technology that can operate highly efficiently, with up to 25 tons of collected material per day. Collecting a load of 2.5 tons takes about half an hour.
Our second technology is the HiveX platform, which is a passive technology that collects and stores waste floating with the current. By combining these two technologies, we can unleash our full potential.
Q. Where is Everwave in operation?
A: Currently, we are mainly active in the Balkans, we have been in Slovakia, Bosnia, and Serbia. We also plan to go to Africa and Southeast Asia, but unfortunately, we were slowed down by the pandemic.
Q: Why do you do what you do?
A: I could never bear to see so much waste in the environment, whether at home in Germany or when traveling.
We have a gigantic problem, a problem that can be solved in my eyes. And I am reminded every morning by my children that it is a future that I want to hand over to my children and not only to my children but also to their friends and to all the other people who come after us.
A: How can people support you and your work?
A: On the one hand, of course, by donating to our association and by becoming a member. But also simply through their consumption, by taking care to produce as little waste as possible, by campaigning loudly and strongly for the right laws to be implemented, and not just in Germany, but across Europe, worldwide.
Every day and every person can bring another step towards a cleaner future.
Summary
We'd like to thank Dr. Tilman for taking the time to speak with us about Everwave's incredible venture.
If you want to learn more about Everwave, their technologies, and projects, make sure to check out their website.
Alternatively, continue learning about plastic waste by checking out some of our similar articles below:
