Waste Free Oceans’ (WFO, Brussels / Belgium; www.wastefreeoceans.org) “Ocean Trash Catchers” are part of the organisation’s initiative targeting the issue of plastics in the oceans. With global plastics production output increasing, the project provides a good starting point for practical solutions to take on the problems of marine litter – see Plasteurope.com of 07.07.2017.

Ocean Trash Catchers are nets that collect floating debris while trawling through water. Boats of different sizes can be equipped with the nets, but they can also be used statically in flowing waters such as rivers. Once full, the nets' contents are transported to sorting and recycling facilities. A major benefit of using this solution is the minimised risk of catching marine life, as the trawl only extends 70cm into the water.

Having already tested the trash catchers in over ten locations, Waste Free Oceans is contributing to the cleaning up of the world’s oceans. The offshoot of producing recycled polymer pellets constitutes an incentive for both business and government players to jump onboard. The creator of the Ocean Trash Catcher, Thierry Thomazeau, is a veteran when it comes to marine pollution. His engagement in cleaning up oil spills earned him the French "Légion d'honneur" in 2003, as part of his company Thomsea (Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez / France; www.thomsea.fr), a specialist in using trawling nets to clean up floating pollution.

In addition to various private businesses’ ideas on how to fight marine plastic waste, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has supports initiatives worldwide. Its innovation challenge, which is organised together with Think Beyond Plastics (www.thinkbeyondplastic.com), has university students from all over the world helping to create sustainable and innovative solutions to solve the problem of marine litter. The winners of the competition will be invited to attend the "Sixth International Marine Debris Conference" in San Diego, California (12-16 March 2018), and will receive free mentorship to help them to further develop their ideas.

Deadline for entries is 6 October 2017. To participate, students need to be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate programme as of June 2017.

According to UNEP, 8m t of plastics end up in the oceans every year. This plastic pollution threatens the survival of fish and other ocean life, destroys coastal and marine ecosystems and endangers human health by entering the food chain, the organisation claims.