Shift happens im Gewässerschutz: Pragmatismus, lokale Perspektiven

00:00:08: Welcome to Shift Happens, the podcast by The International Impact Forum.

00:00:12: We're here today at the Monaco Yacht Club where we are holding this year's international impact forum.

00:00:18: in Monaco Today I am joined by Kasten Hirsch from Plastic Fisher and talk about amazing low-tech solutions they've come up with stop plastic waste entering oceans starting at the source of rivers.

00:00:31: Kastin, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:00:34: I'm really excited to get to know you and your journey And what plastic fissure is all about.

00:00:41: So maybe you can just share a little bit About the journey that brought You to this idea.

00:00:47: was it traveling?

00:00:48: Was It a problem you encountered or kind of like A come-to-Jesus moment That really shocked you?

00:00:54: Yeah Just share a Little Bit about that if you would.

00:00:56: yeah All Of The above!

00:00:58: Thanks For Having Me and the journey started around seven years ago.

00:01:03: I am a lawyer by background, then after finishing my law school i went to Vietnam on a trip with two friends.

00:01:11: it was for me the first time being in Asia And we had an apartment near the Mekong River.

00:01:19: Yeah!

00:01:20: We could witness plastic flowing downstream of the Mokong... ...twenty-four-seven.

00:01:25: For me it was quite shocking because I grew up in Cologne near the Rhine and it's a fairly clean river, very clean river.

00:01:33: but now actually.

00:01:34: And yeah we were all quite shocked seeing how much plastic was going down the river!

00:01:41: We knew that the delta and ocean was just few kilometers away so nothing would stop this.

00:01:47: from entering the ocean.

00:01:51: We did a little bit of research.

00:01:52: I mean, we kept talking over the vacation and um...we did a Little Bit Of Research And Figured Out There Is No Organization In The World Focusing On Rivers In Order To Stop Ocean Plastic Pollution.

00:02:04: And We Only Had One Organization Focussing On The Oceans.

00:02:07: So We Thought Why Don't We Give That A Try?

00:02:10: And that's How It Started.

00:02:12: Great, yeah.

00:02:12: I know about Ocean Cleanup.

00:02:14: maybe that's the one you also know.

00:02:16: or is there another company?

00:02:17: Yeah

00:02:18: they were back then more-or-less The only organization That was known at least There was committed to solve that issue.

00:02:26: But we thought why don't We go

00:02:28: To the source?

00:02:30: and as we now Know closer to the Source?

00:02:32: yeah i mean spoiler alert.

00:02:34: uh ocean Plastic has to be solved on land And rivers up make More sense than the ocean.

00:02:41: But yeah, there was our first step saying let's try to do it in rivers before its spreads and dilutes in the endless oceans.

00:02:50: And from that encounter in Vietnam to the founding of The Company.

00:02:55: what time frame are we looking at?

00:02:57: How quickly did you turn this awareness into action?

00:03:03: I think four weeks after the vacation, which was December twenty eighteen.

00:03:09: We piloted our first idea in Germany actually and figured out it worked.

00:03:15: Yeah?

00:03:16: I don't want to go into details.

00:03:18: there was a waterwheel that was collecting plastic from the river but motivated by because we just took a couple of euros and manufactured at now own workshop And we're not super talented engineers.

00:03:32: Yeah, but it worked and that gave us so much motivation That was said okay?

00:03:36: We gonna try it.

00:03:37: So in April four months after the vacation we founded a company and two months later In June I moved permanently to Indonesia.

00:03:46: Oh wow Then test basically their technology on this approach in The real environment.

00:03:52: yeah lift at the Chitarum River which is one of them most polluted rivers in the world.

00:03:58: And there, yeah.

00:03:59: We tested the technology figured out it doesn't work and developed a new one, figured that worked.

00:04:08: since then we kept improving in scaling our operations.

00:04:13: Yeah!

00:04:14: From what I could tell from The Plastic Fisher website you're currently focusing also on Asia.

00:04:21: What countries are present

00:04:25: right now?

00:04:26: in eight cities, India and Indonesia which are our focus countries.

00:04:36: For a long time I was under the impression we have to work all of these countries but then i had one very good conversation with someone who told me that they were under same impressions.

00:04:47: so if you make really solid impact on just one country it can have more impact than scattering your impact across million geographies and we have very good traction, a very good momentum especially in India but also still in Indonesia.

00:05:04: And therefore this is where we focus for the moment because there are also... We have quite significant problem.

00:05:12: Yeah!

00:05:13: From your background of law to now founding this company what's you position?

00:05:19: Are you CEO?

00:05:22: from being CEO Are there any skills, hard or soft skills that you feel like can apply?

00:05:31: Or was it just learning by doing since its a completely different subject.

00:05:36: Yeah I think studying law is the most useless thing you could do so... I

00:05:41: don't think!

00:05:41: So human

00:05:42: rights?!

00:05:43: No yeah not true but study itself is horrible at least for me and what i really learned from my studies?

00:05:54: I can basically learn anything, even though i'm not interested or uh...I am NOT passionate about it.

00:06:03: If I put myself behind that and figure out what is the word?

00:06:16: Well..i

00:06:17: know tenacity but thats kind of like persistence

00:06:26: and doing it, getting through this... I don't know where.

00:06:31: It's a very basic word that i'm looking for!

00:06:33: I was missing it.

00:06:34: It'll come to you?

00:06:37: No, I think in structured way.

00:06:42: just working hard is something you have do in law studies And also still enjoy today and now having purpose Really fulfilling.

00:06:57: Yeah, great do you now still live in Indonesia or are You back and

00:07:03: I'm back in Germany?

00:07:06: I will have two kids in June.

00:07:08: so My life is based out of cologne.

00:07:11: yeah i'm very happy about that And my job Is also In germany i am.

00:07:16: my job is to Have podcasts for the european audience maybe on present on stages like here at the IIF And basically spread the word about our work that we do on the ground.

00:07:29: That's something I realized during Covid, so... ...I lived in Indonesia for around seven months and then came back home thinking i'd just do a Christmas break.

00:07:41: Then I planned to fly back in March of twenty-twenty but when lockdown came everything shifted.. ..I was locked into Cologne and realised A little bit later, it can't be that I have to be on the ground... ...to collect waste in a different country.

00:08:02: You know?

00:08:03: It has to be solved with much more local approach and that's what we do today.

00:08:08: We are three people in Germany and around one hundred people in India and Indonesia working full-time On that issue And makes us scalable.

00:08:15: That is not me being necessary In all project locations India and Indonesia.

00:08:21: And the people working locally, are they you know physically working or also kind of like office work?

00:08:28: Or both?

00:08:30: The vast majority our people actually collecting waste from rivers.

00:08:34: I mean we do the entire supply chain.

00:08:35: so We go to a city we get all the permissions in paperwork We manufacture that technology.

00:08:42: with said it we put it into the river we set up sorting facilities.

00:08:47: We then collect the plastic from our systems in the river, bring it to the sorting facility, segregate everything and then transport it to end of destination.

00:08:56: And around seventy-five percent of all people in India or Indonesia are actually collecting and managing waste.

00:09:07: Then we have engineers project managers partnerships manager Yeah, and hopefully a growing team on both sides.

00:09:16: Great!

00:09:17: I'm wondering coming into you know...a different country?

00:09:21: A different culture?

00:09:23: Were there any language and cultural barriers that you had to deal with?

00:09:29: was their resistance male person maybe coming in with like a savior complex, even though of course you want to contribute something good.

00:09:41: I mean that's just...I'm just playing devil's advocate kind of so i'm just wondering what were the circumstances and maybe obstacles that you had to overcome?

00:09:54: To create very fruitful collaboration with local communities?

00:09:59: yeah I lived in Indonesia and didn't live in Bali.

00:10:03: I lived on Java Island, you know?

00:10:05: In Bandung no one knows about Bandung.

00:10:07: it's the third largest city in Indonesia.

00:10:10: It is four hours from Jakarta And there are not tourists.

00:10:13: There is nobody speaking English.

00:10:16: We were only two white guys in Bandung.

00:10:22: Noone spoke english.

00:10:23: so i learned Bahasa Indonesia.

00:10:26: Wow!

00:10:27: Its a very simple language actually.

00:10:29: Oh

00:10:29: really?!

00:10:29: Ok

00:10:31: Can you say a sentence for us?

00:10:38: I mean, i can only talk about the

00:10:48: project

00:10:49: stuff.

00:10:50: The important

00:10:51: things!

00:10:53: No but it could get along with people and of course first they thought we're just Some white guys coming there making pictures of the waste and going again, but we came back every day And we learned a language.

00:11:08: We really integrated in the community and became part of it.

00:11:12: so... ...we got a lot of support until today to address The White Saviourism thing which is fair enough.

00:11:20: I think that's what we always were aware of.

00:11:23: We tried from start also with the local communities and develop that with them.

00:11:31: And learn from them, I mean we know nothing about the country.

00:11:34: or are there issue?

00:11:36: Until today i learned why is their waste?

00:11:39: it's very complex.

00:11:44: The best thing you can do is give credits to people who actually doing job hiring locals.

00:11:52: You're also providing them a tool they can apply benefit their community and environment.

00:12:00: Yeah, yeah!

00:12:02: And that's really what we're working on giving people from the informal waste sector decent jobs.

00:12:09: We have local directors of our Indian entity who are running this show.

00:12:14: without them nothing will work so it is not... I mean someone has to be face-of-the-organization but i'm proud to do that representing the work that the local people do.

00:12:27: I think that's it.

00:12:30: I try to do as good as i can.

00:12:31: Yeah,

00:12:32: you know we're facing global issues and these are just ideas or things people say.

00:12:41: but if really work together have a shared interest We share this planet doesn't matter too much where were from But its important to learn the language the local culture and people so we can work together as best is possible.

00:13:03: Yeah, I agree!

00:13:04: And have you been to Indonesia?

00:13:06: i've never been to Asia.

00:13:08: okay yeah

00:13:09: there's a whole lot to explore...I mean..i'm not seeing a lot but um it's definitely an experience.

00:13:21: ...I mean ..I've been wanting to go ,but its just never happened yet but in the future.

00:13:28: Yeah, let me know and I'm happy to give you... Give

00:13:31: them local insights!

00:13:33: Ask our people to give your tour?

00:13:35: I'd love too.

00:13:37: In terms of the waist sorting are there any training?

00:13:43: like?

00:13:43: could i just go there and do it today is very simple to differentiate from what i can tell your weight sorting into recyclable or non-recyclable Or I'm sure there are more categories, but

00:13:56: no it's pretty much what we sort.

00:13:58: Um... I mean if you think about Germany What is being collected?

00:14:03: Uh cans?

00:14:07: Well

00:14:07: yeah

00:14:08: well cans Plastic wrappers glass bottles of different colors paper

00:14:16: Exactly and basically what we put into the vending reverse vending machines More or less the recyclables so pt bottles glass and aluminum.

00:14:25: then we have paper of course, but that's pretty much what you can easily.

00:14:32: Recycle an all the rest to get more or less classified as non-recyclable.

00:14:36: I mean We have also the shampoo bottles at the bottle caps which are Pp and hdpe that You Can Also Segregate Recycle.

00:14:46: But There was one big thing that I learned after moving to Indonesia, which was very crucial.

00:14:51: Was that our business model wouldn't work because i was under the impression in Germany That we would collect a plastic from The rivers and sell the pad bottles that We collect mm-hmm.

00:15:02: Well i moved there and figured out their are no pt Bottles In in the system okay?

00:15:07: Because i mean we don't have the Deposit System in indonesia.

00:15:12: but still this is valuable material and whenever you go to.

00:15:17: A country in the global south, You will see a lot of trucks going around the city with pt bottles on the back.

00:15:25: because it is available materials or most off.

00:15:28: plastic is already collected by the informal waste sector that can be recycled.

00:15:32: so we are left was ninety five percent non recyclable material.

00:15:36: So yeah It would very much possible for your two join us for segregating the ways because he will pick the bottles, the cans.

00:15:44: The glass maybe the shampoo bottles and that's it!

00:15:48: And all of the rest.

00:15:49: you cannot recycle that um especially not if it has been exposed to the environment for a long yeah.

00:15:54: so that goes to cement glands

00:15:57: okay

00:15:58: uh...and then this replaces virgin fossil fuels.

00:16:02: So instead of coal which is used as a fuel source they basically use plastic also, which was a virgin fossil fuel before but has been processed.

00:16:15: And they throw this into the chimney to incinerate it and It doesn't sound super sexy.

00:16:22: But it is actually The international best practice for how to utilize this material?

00:16:28: At burns with high temperature.

00:16:30: so most of the toxins are also incinerated.

00:16:32: we work With national leaders in that space.

00:16:36: yeah because I was wondering like there must be fumes that get released.

00:16:41: Are they filter systems in place?

00:16:44: What's the process when non-recyclables are incinerated?

00:16:50: We have countrywide contracts with the leading cement plants, which we sign a code of conduct where they say okay and we process it according to these national standards.

00:17:08: waste energy plants, or landfilling.

00:17:11: Or the oceans obviously is a worse alternative.

00:17:16: so what we try to do Is do it pragmatic but as good As We can and we actually pay quite A bit too incinerated even though We basically give them fuel And What?

00:17:28: We also easily Could Do us throw It on The Landfill.

00:17:30: But We believe It is more Responsible To Treat That Way.

00:17:34: Yeah and We're Always Eager to learn and Also to Change it if there is a better opportunity.

00:17:41: So right now, what does your business model look like?

00:17:46: You make money off of selling the non-recyclables but you're also paying to get into it... No

00:17:51: no we are not selling the Non Recyclables!

00:17:54: We're paying for that and getting rid of them.

00:17:59: We partner with brands who want to contribute in a cleaner world and social and environmental impact so large companies like Alliance or SMEs that are selling backpacks.

00:18:16: Or making pliers, maybe some of the listeners know knipex.

00:18:21: they make pliers and their family owned SME from Wuppertal And They say we would like to do something for you as a contribution to clean oceans and to fair jobs in Asia.

00:18:37: And they communicate this impact within their employees or within the company, also externally on events like LinkedIn etc.

00:18:46: So unfortunately I would say we're still more branding partner of organizations.

00:18:55: why?

00:18:56: Unfortunately because there should be a necessity from someone to pay us, to do the job.

00:19:03: It's amazing that Allianz and Kniepex and many other organizations fund our work because without them we wouldn't be able to do it.

00:19:11: but it should be The Plastic produces paying for their work And the governments.

00:19:15: But this is a really tough job To Do.

00:19:18: Specifically the companies you know That produce the packaging.

00:19:22: You can find the products Which I'm wondering Are there any kind of sorts Of packaging?

00:19:29: or Yeah, items that you collect most frequently.

00:19:35: Like what's the bandwidth of what you find?

00:19:40: and what do you find the most when collecting plastic from

00:19:44: rivers?

00:19:45: Literally anything!

00:19:47: And not only plastic we also all sorts things can end up in rivers Considering going into details, but yeah.

00:20:01: I mean there are trees.

00:20:03: obviously you're in India we find dead cows Dead dogs goats pigs rats even humans.

00:20:12: We've found a couple of dead bodies and systems.

00:20:15: Wow So that's quite a tough job.

00:20:20: You know it is not only plastic.

00:20:23: we collect Luckily the vast majority of material Waste or I don't know if i want to say luckily because this is a pity.

00:20:32: Yeah, we're trying to stop But most of it are sachets like these wrapper that you can open and then there was some powder in it or some Some liquid.

00:20:44: This Is very much used Or Very Often Used In Asia Especially Are At Least I Know It From Asia A Lot And It's Horrible Material.

00:20:54: Right To Sell Fruit?

00:20:57: No,

00:20:58: rather if you know these instant noodles

00:21:00: for example.

00:21:01: Okay

00:21:01: So you have a plastic wrapper on the outside and if you open it in inside is aluminum.

00:21:06: But it's not just aluminium.

00:21:08: one layer of plastic It's multi layers off.

00:21:10: different plastics go together so it's impossible to get rid of this end.

00:21:15: These we haven't in the size over I don't know what this is five square centimeters And larger.

00:21:22: We have a lot of straws And we have a lot of plastic bags.

00:21:27: So people throw their entire, or what do you call it?

00:21:31: Waste bin into the environment.

00:21:34: and now is the important part because often hear about these people who need to educate them where they bring your waste.

00:21:42: if tomorrow the waste truck isn't picking up yours

00:21:45: Exactly

00:21:47: With all your education with all your awareness not to pollute you will end up in the same situation.

00:21:56: We're lucky people that are serviced on a weekly basis by a truck coming, picking up and we don't even know where it's going most of time.

00:22:05: I would say at least Germany is going to a decent place to get managed well.

00:22:11: sometimes It might be helpful not being serviced.

00:22:15: feel more responsibility or see what things use ends.

00:22:22: We are even more educated on it and deal with our waste.

00:22:27: And what we throw away, also food waste I think in a more conscious way?

00:22:33: Yeah absolutely!

00:22:35: That's that needs to be changed... ...we need infrastructure in countries that lack waste management infrastructure.. ..and thats' what we do- we also service households , we provide them with bins, we service the households collect them and process the material in our sorting facilities.

00:22:52: And this is how you large-scale and effectively stop ocean plastic pollution by creating infrastructure, servicing households... Only if there's an infrastructure really education helps

00:23:06: because

00:23:08: just telling them don't throw it there

00:23:10: or what

00:23:12: can they do?

00:23:13: It not stupid people but lack of infrastructure

00:23:15: Or also a lack.

00:23:18: It's not provided in any other different way, you know.

00:23:21: if there's just plastic straws and no alternative or only You know various layers of plastic glue together where you get your noodles?

00:23:30: Or food from then.

00:23:32: You're not going to starve And not use that.

00:23:35: we need too.

00:23:36: also I guess like reinvent some packaging In Europe.

00:23:42: i feel they are really working on paper-based Packaging but it has to expand

00:23:48: Yeah.

00:23:49: I mean, there are some brilliant packaging that you can maybe sell here in Monaco but we need it in India

00:23:57: for

00:23:58: example and that's a different thing.

00:24:00: if you want to roll it out for billion people then would have big impact also.

00:24:06: yeah i've read online on your website There is the trash boom But You Also Have right?

00:24:13: Yeah Trash Boom but You Also have like two further setups.

00:24:20: Maybe you could, if you want to talk a little about their differences and what purpose they serve?

00:24:26: So the purpose is always the same stop plastic from flowing downstream but every river is different.

00:24:32: so we came up with different low-tech solutions.

00:24:35: so at some point we defined ourselves as The Three L Initiative.

00:24:39: maybe you know three R reduce reuse recycle And we thought it gave for us its low tech, which is the opposite of high-tech local because it's locally built and operated by locals.

00:24:50: It has a low cost.

00:24:51: that results from this.

00:24:53: Our operations in our technology follow three L principles so... I love them!

00:24:59: Thank you.

00:25:01: Me too.

00:25:02: It's very efficient and saves lots of time and energy.

00:25:08: End emissions?

00:25:10: And with this, we don't need to ship anything from A to B and that's how we always build our technology in operations.

00:25:18: Sometimes we can walk on it sometimes at a static sometime said floats but its over simple.

00:25:23: so because of the simple local low cost all the materials used to build it can be found anywhere.

00:25:30: basically

00:25:31: yeah and thats why you can also repair it and because is built by locals they cannot repair.

00:25:36: if u send something some Porsche engineering there and then something gets loose, well sent an engineer from wherever they are based.

00:25:47: And that doesn't make any sense.

00:25:50: You just said every river is different so needs a little bit of a different contraption.

00:25:55: I'm guessing you also need them to be adaptable.

00:25:59: who or what resources do use to adapt your original model kind river.

00:26:07: Is it with engineers or yeah?

00:26:10: Yeah, I was in the very lucky situation that i made a brilliant hire of uh person that was for ten years in The Navy as a lead engineer for designing ships and he traveled to India and realized there is stuff... There's a lot of plastic around And He applied for a job when I was hiring CTO Job luckiest person to hire.

00:26:39: Aviel who is running, was leading our engineering since then.

00:26:43: And now we have a few engineers and it's simple technology also so lot of people can contribute even me.

00:26:52: I'm joining regularly meetings where give my input how i think the technology could be improved because We started with this simple idea.

00:27:00: It worked well that it adapted across world And I believe it, you know sometimes needs common sense.

00:27:10: Yeah It can be very simple low-tech Exactly!

00:27:15: But also...I mean i'm a fan of low tech in general and do think there are more solutions out there that we don't use because they might too simple.

00:27:26: I think there's a lot of indigenous knowledge we could draw from.

00:27:30: They've protected and lived in their environments for centuries, and were stewards of their land.

00:27:37: And i think today We approach climate or impact and sustainability From such a high tech standpoint and sometimes we have to just support nature instead Of trying to force something on it.

00:27:51: I don't know, i'd love to see more approaches like that.

00:27:56: Yeah well one of the issues is... Not sure if people now switch off but it's a VC environment and we see loss.

00:28:07: high-tech sometimes you want create things at work You need no high tech But it sells better because it looks fancy.

00:28:15: There are some innovations with patents But it's not always the best thing to do if you really want to solve an issue and we're trying to solve a global issue.

00:28:29: I'm also not saying, You can capture carbon in a low-tech way... ...I don't believe that.

00:28:33: but when we talk about plastic We have proven that It goes very simple way And they don't need spectacular things too!

00:28:41: You could actually throw in a bamboo A piece of bamboo.. ..and will stop at decent amount of plastic Because nothing

00:28:50: I'm wondering in terms of the, so you have people contributing to your company for brand partnerships as you said.

00:28:59: But there's also a big interest I think like post-consumer recyclable products and upcycling of plastic waste into clothes or bags.

00:29:09: is that a market?

00:29:10: You're tapping into it can see yourself servicing.

00:29:20: The issue is we always collect what's thrown in upstream.

00:29:26: And the quality and quantity of material changes, that why you're not a good feedstock provider for someone who wants to sell something at large scale because they need consistency with their feedstocks.

00:29:41: We are exploring recycling but it won't be.

00:29:46: It won't be sufficiently funding fund our operations.

00:29:51: Yeah, we will always need external funding.

00:29:53: that should perspective Lee come from the governments and the plastic producing industry.

00:29:58: Now great well That's a long way white And until then I hope a lot of brands reach out to me and Contribute.

00:30:06: you

00:30:07: know

00:30:07: good impact

00:30:08: absolutely.

00:30:10: Do you feel like your relationship to plastic has changed through your work over the last seven years?

00:30:17: Yeah, one hundred percent.

00:30:19: I didn't have a relationship with plastic before or something.

00:30:24: we saw an issue and since then i'm a bit haunted everywhere.

00:30:34: How does that look in everyday life?

00:30:37: Yeah, I'm not the saint.

00:30:38: You know it's impossible for me.

00:30:42: It is impossible to live plastic-free and also very expensive.

00:30:50: but of course i try to minimize the use.

00:30:53: there are simple things we probably in Germany nearly all of us have adopted like reusable bottles reusable bags Things that can be simpler.

00:31:03: I try to reduce my footprint as good as i can.

00:31:06: And, um...I think if everyone would do a little bit we will be in way better position.

00:31:11: it's not needed that.. ..i'do the one hundred percent and scream at every want-to-do this same.

00:31:18: but if everyone was reduced five to ten per cent of their consumption?

00:31:23: ...I Think We Would Be In A Much Better Space.

00:31:25: Yeah Absolutely.

00:31:27: I also think, again like where there's demand you know they will supply.

00:31:32: so for example like pasta packaging now is more in paper bags or packaging as well.

00:31:41: Chocolate isn't paper...I mean not all of the brands but the legacy brands haven't adopted it But new ones that are coming onto this scene.

00:31:50: i feel really making a difference.

00:31:53: I don't live plastic-free either, but...I try my best.

00:32:00: I was pursuing it more narrowly and strongly for a while.

00:32:06: now not as much anymore.

00:32:08: But i also think when you have like little gadget or product that you switched up Like I use, instead of the Ziploc bags.

00:32:18: I have little silicone bags to freeze things in or when I travel on the airport with and it's also fun you know?

00:32:28: It's like something you feel good about And...it is an easy swap that you can make and makes a huge difference.

00:32:37: Yeah!

00:32:37: Feels Good To Do Something Good.

00:32:39: and i think this why brands work With Us?

00:32:41: because They see the results and we don't bullshit them.

00:32:46: And you can prove it?

00:32:48: That's a story that everyone loves, that employees love... ...that people who initiated the partnership love.. ..and I still do my job because It has so much purpose.

00:32:59: We give people jobs without us, they send their kids to school by first trash bin.

00:33:06: with age of sixty You know, doing something good on a... I try to do one good thing a day.

00:33:13: Oh!

00:33:14: I mean..I don't chase that but if an opportunity arises i tried to whatever-do someone favor or something like this and it feels good.

00:33:24: so the silicon bag is a good example of that.

00:33:28: That's great habit to establish My family always does at end what are you grateful for?

00:33:34: So we say well were grateful.

00:33:38: Like mindset habit to establish and just do something good in your everyday life doesn't have to be a big gesture, but

00:33:45: yeah

00:33:46: Something small matters too.

00:33:49: Yeah There are weeks where nothing like that happens maybe because I'm only in the home office But

00:33:56: you can Do something good for your family.

00:33:58: two?

00:33:58: That's an easy one.

00:33:59: Yes.

00:34:00: I think I did

00:34:01: great looking forward what our goals with plastic Fisher.

00:34:08: Like all the startups we want to grow.

00:34:12: We wanna scale, but I think especially for impact.

00:34:15: startup scale is Incredibly important and we're addressing one of the world's largest Problems.

00:34:24: so we really need to grow if you want to have a significant impact on that problem.

00:34:29: And that's what we try to do.

00:34:30: um?

00:34:31: We want to go into the ten most polluted rivers uh, in India until the end of twenty thirty.

00:34:38: Um we call it our plastic fish emission.

00:34:39: twenty thirty to set up ten more locations along the most polluted rivers in india.

00:34:45: This is a very much achievable goal.

00:34:47: We need basically ten sponsors that say we are financing one location.

00:34:51: um And that's kind of the short term goal.

00:34:56: and the bigger pictures Of course Scale into other countries do Replicate that find a way to Yeah, replicate that maybe not also only within our own organizations or I think we already inspired others.

00:35:13: We had this...we gave the construction plans of our initial technology for free in the internet.

00:35:19: so there was replicated across the world.

00:35:23: and with this we try to stop ocean plastic pollution at scale.

00:35:30: Another question just came to mind.

00:35:32: I was wondering, have you already seen like a return of biodiversity maybe in the rivers?

00:35:37: You collect the plastic or is that not something... ...you can really count as visible

00:35:44: yet?".

00:35:45: Yeah!

00:35:45: I love this question because that's why we do it

00:35:49: right?!

00:35:49: We founded The Company Not to stop.

00:35:52: Oh, not to stop plastic but to protect biodiversity.

00:35:55: This was the goal of the three of us because we all have somehow are attracted to Oceans and fish And we just that's why we found at the company.

00:36:05: Unfortunately Biodiversity tracking biodiversity is impossible.

00:36:09: in having our it's not impossible But it's an hour case not possible and knowing what you know positive impacts?

00:36:17: We would have For stopping three million kilograms of plastic going to the ocean is just nothing that we can prove and thats why we don't communicate it.

00:36:26: But one good example, Is my hometown Cologne.

00:36:31: there's the Rhine River.

00:36:33: It was called The Sewage of Europe One Of The Most Polluted Rivers in Europe And then I Was Protected.

00:36:44: They Had A Mission To Clean Up This River.

00:36:47: the salmon is coming back into the Rhine, which is one of the most sensitive fish species to water.

00:36:54: And that shows that biodiversity can very well recover and if the measurements are taken a river can be clean again even though it was a very dirty environment before.

00:37:04: so I have the hope that if the right measurements are taking in we're contributing.

00:37:15: Do you know, could there be like some partners that you collaborate with in such a pursuit or is not on

00:37:22: their horizon?

00:37:23: Yeah.

00:37:23: Of course we are only one piece of the puzzle and we need many to work with us on that And I would love to do so many more things.

00:37:30: but it's always funding is always the limiting factor.

00:37:34: If i have all my money in this world then get all our partners on.

00:37:38: Then we do biodiversity education infrastructure etc.

00:37:44: We're not in this position unfortunately.

00:37:46: Yeah, how's that funding journey for you?

00:37:49: Does it feel just like knocking on different doors?

00:37:51: is a through introductions?

00:37:54: How do you acquire most of your partners

00:37:57: On events?

00:37:58: yeah Most of the time and meeting people.

00:38:02: People see us speak or Bambun to our website.

00:38:06: we also do their outreach.

00:38:08: obviously people follow me on LinkedIn.

00:38:14: Yeah videos that we post on our social medias, but it's not super easy But I think were in a decent spot

00:38:23: great.

00:38:24: So maybe to latch onto That where can people find you?

00:38:29: Where Can People Find Plastic Fisher To Follow and Support Your Great Cause?

00:38:34: Shout yourself out.

00:38:35: yeah

00:38:36: i mean We're There.

00:38:39: So in the internet and worldwide web, we are... Plastic Fisher is a company name.

00:38:44: Plastic will see Fisher as well And on all social media platforms you can find me.

00:38:51: at LinkedIn I'm responding.

00:38:54: so if you reach out to my I want get back to your.

00:38:57: And yeah!

00:38:59: We have great videos.

00:39:00: by the way They only got couple of hundred clicks because we don't know how How to play the game, but I think if you really want to see what we do go on YouTube and check out some of our videos

00:39:10: Amazing.

00:39:11: Thank you so much for your time.

00:39:12: i really enjoyed this conversation And thank you

00:39:16: See ya soon!