This month’s UN ocean summit in Nice saw more than 170 countries adopt a political declaration promising urgent action to protect the ocean. Time is of the essence. Our seas are under threat from climate change, pollution and overfishing.
In the run-up to the conference, the UK Mission to the European Union organised an ‘Ocean Innovators’ event, where companies presented solutions to combat plastic pollution, improve ocean health, and support the circular economy. As we mark Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (27 June), we spoke with three UK-based companies – Ocean Bottle, NotPla, and NatureMetrics – on the work they are doing to make a difference for a healthier planet.
Ocean Bottle: Turning plastic collection into collective impact
Ocean Bottle, a reusable bottle made partly from recycled ocean plastic, is more than a water bottle brand – it’s a vehicle for social and environmental change.
“For every Ocean Bottle that we sell, we fund the collection of 11.4 kilos of ocean plastic, which is equivalent to a thousand plastic bottles in weight,” explains Will Pearson, Co-founder of Ocean Bottle.
Since launching in 2019, Ocean Bottle has helped remove over 20 million kilos of ocean-bound plastic, the equivalent of around two billion plastic bottles. Ocean Bottle also allows its bottle users to track their refills through an app, and funds plastic collections for each refill of the bottle.
The London-based company works in coastal communities around the world, including in India, Kenya, Brazil and Egypt, and goes beyond environmental cleanups by also offering health camps as well as education and financial literacy programmes to its collectors.
NotPla: replacing single-use plastic with seaweed-based packaging
NotPla, winner of the 2022 Earthshot Prize, is a sustainable packaging company pioneering alternatives to single-use plastic using what it describes as a “hero ingredient”: seaweed.
“Almost 90% of packaging, especially single-use packaging, either is not recyclable or leaks into the environment through littering. It’s especially a problem because it’s normally made of plastic, and plastic lasts for about five hundred years,” says Hoa Doa, Head of Impact and Sustainability at NotPla.
NotPla’s packaging can decompose naturally in weeks, like a fruit peel, and the company has developed sustainable packaging items such as food containers, a bubble to hold liquids, cutlery and paper. Its natural alternatives have helped businesses replace over 23 million items of single-use plastic packaging.
“Seaweed is incredibly fast growing. It doesn’t require any land use, fresh water, or fertilizer, so as a crop it is one of the most sustainable you can have,” details Hoa Doa. Certain species of seaweed can grow up to a metre a day and can be harvested within six months.
In 2023, the Dutch government officially recognised Notpla’s patented material as the first and only one to meet the EU’s Single Use Plastic Directive standards for being truly plastic-free.
NatureMetrics: Harnessing environmental DNA for biodiversity monitoring
NatureMetrics uses environmental DNA (eDNA) to revolutionise how biodiversity is monitored, providing important data for conservation efforts. Its technology helps track species and assess ecosystem health more accurately and efficiently.
“The mission of our company is to make biodiversity measurable at scale to support global goals and accelerate finance into the restoration and conservation of nature,” says Laura Plant, Strategic Partnerships Director at NatureMetrics.
The organisation provides kits to local organisations who collect water samples which are sent to NatureMetrics’ labs. The eDNA provides a sample of what animals are living there at that moment in time. It can be compared to other periods to see if biodiversity has dropped, perhaps for example due to a construction project, or whether it has increased thanks to restoration efforts.
“How rich is the diversity of the species you’ve got? How healthy is this ecosystem based on what we found here? Those are the metrics that then allow you to track over time,” says Laura Plant. The data enables organisations to then set targets, for example to aim for a 20% increase in species richness.
NatureMetrics works in over 100 countries, supporting organisations such as renewable energy developers building offshore wind farms; agricultural clients who want to enhance soil biodiversity; or helping mining companies manage their environmental compliance.
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The inclusion of an organisation on the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) website does not necessarily reflect the views of UNRIC and does not imply its endorsement.