TOMRA supports all-female ocean plastic science research mission

Reverse vending recycling leader TOMRA has come on board as the Title Sponsor for eXXpedition’s next highly anticipated all-women plastic research voyage North Pacific 2018.

Coinciding with today’s announcement, Emily Penn, Ocean Advocate and Co-founder of eXXpedition, the British Community Interest Company that specialises in all-women sailing expeditions, will join a high-profile panel discussion on marine litter at IFAT 2018, the world’s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management. The IFAT panel discussion in Munich is on 14th May 2018 between 11.45 and 12.45.

Emily has spent the last decade exploring plastic pollution from the tropics to the Arctic and she’s on a mission to inspire and facilitate a community of changemakers through eXXpedition, and by training and engaging top athletes, policy makers, business leaders and celebrities to be impactful advocates on ocean issues.

eXXpedition North Pacific 2018, in collaboration with TOMRA, aims to: raise awareness of the devastating impact of single-use plastic and toxics in the world’s oceans; celebrate women in science, leadership and adventure; create a community of female change-makers and inspiring global ambassadors to tackle the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution; and champion and contribute to innovative scientific research to tackle the crisis.

Working across more than 60 markets worldwide, Title Sponsor TOMRA collects 35 billion used drink containers every year for reuse and recycling through their reverse vending solutions. Currently, only 2% of the world’s plastic packaging is turned into new packaging, while 32% ends up in our oceans, nature and communities. When a financial value is given to bottles and cans through a container deposit system, TOMRA is able to collect up to 97% of used beverage containers - ensuring that the bottles are kept in the clean loop and do not end up in our oceans as litter.

TOMRA circular economy communicator Kristine M. Berg will also join the North Pacific 2018 voyage as a crew member, contributing to its Expert team focused on different solutions for protecting oceans. Kristine’s background in Industrial Ecology and sustainability, and connection to circular economy via TOMRA, adds unique expertise to the eXXpedition team.

eXXpedition soon sets sail

The eXXpedition crew will be sailing Sea Dragon, a 72ft scientific exploration vessel from Oahu, Hawaii to Vancouver, British Columbia (June 23rd - July 15th 2018) and then from Vancouver to Seattle (July 21st - July 28th 2018) where the journey will end. A roster of events in each place will be announced closer to the departure. The crew will sail 3,000 nautical miles through the densest ocean plastic accumulation zone on the planet – better known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch because of the plastic that gathers there.

The eXXpedition voyage team is a diverse and international group of 24 women. Crew members will make daily trawls for plastics and pollutants, and collect data for a variety of global datasets and scientific studies during the voyage, which is endorsed by the UN Environment #CleanSeas initiative and Ocean Wise.