Companies around the world are implementing recycling solutions that are sustainable and business friendly. American start-up AlgiKnit makes fibers from kelp that can be spun into yarn. AlgiKnit offers a solution that can transform the highly polluting textile industry into a circular economy by using biomaterials. After having been used, this seaweed textile can serve as compost or animal feed. It also reduces the carbon footprint of the clothing industry, because no harmful fiber particles are lost during washing, such as is the case with polyester. The company is working on a prototype of a T-shirt and sneakers will be next.

The Great Bubble Barrier from The Netherlands has developed an air bubble screen for use on riverbeds that catches plastic before it arrives at sea. Approximately 80 per cent of the plastic floating in the oceans enters the sea via rivers. The Great Bubble Barrier sends high-pressure air through a perforated tube on the riverbed, in order to tackle plastic soup. This creates an air bubble curtain that blocks both the stream of plastic waste on the surface and the floating micro particles underwater. The plastic then floats to the waterfront along the air bubble curtain, where it is collected for recycling.