Tomra on board for all-female ocean plastic research eXXpedition

Plastics recycling specialist and sustainability company Tomra has announced that it is taking part in the "eXXpedition Round The World” mission, launching in just two weeks time. The company has joined the two-year all-female sailing voyage, which is focused on researching microplastic pollution in oceans, as a science advisor and gold sponsor.

The research project will see 300 women, including four from Tomra, joining the vessel crew for over 30 voyage legs and crossing four of the five oceanic gyres where marine plastic gathers in a system of circular ocean currents.The first voyage will depart on 8 Oct, heading from Plymouth, the UK, toward the Azores, in mid-Atlantic.

Led by professor Richard Thompson, leader at the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, and Professor Jenna Jambeck, National Geographic explorer and director at the University of Georgia, the eXXpedition's scientific research will include both sea-based and land-based studies examining the global distribution of (micro)plastics, from their sources on land to their dispersal and accumulation within the worlds’ ocean.

Tomra SVP for circular economy strategy Dr Daniel Schwaab will be part of eXXpedition's science advisory board for the two-year research.

With a PhD in physics and an understanding of the circular economy of plastics, he will try to bridge the gap between science and business throughout the process.

The four Tomra employees joining the voyage will be involved, hands-on, in gathering research samples.

Also a member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Tomra sponsored last year's eXXpedition voyage from Hawaii to Vancouver, crossing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific.

"We are thrilled to have Tomra back on board with the eXXpedition journey," said Emily Penn, eXXpedition co-founder and mission leader.

Tomra, she said, has made it their business to be innovative in the resource revolution, providing smart solutions for sustainability.

"You can't truly provide solutions until you understand the problem, and you can't understand the problem until you get out and see it first hand," explained Kristine Berg, circular economy advisor at Tomra and crew member of last year's North Pacific voyage. 

"Reverse vending, waste sorting and circular economy are vital ways to turn off the tap of plastic litter entering [into] our oceans, and we at Tomra need to see the true scale of the pollution to build [the] understanding and urgency around the issue of marine litter," she added.