Everllence and Plastic Fischer Partner in Fight Against Plastic Waste

[By: Everllence]

Everllence has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with social enterprise, Plastic Fischer. As part of the partnership, rivers near Everllence locations in India will be cleared of plastic waste. 

This support will enable Plastic Fischer to collect and recycle between 450 and 500 tons of plastic over the next three years. To this end, a total of seven floating barriers will be installed in Vadodara and Bangalore to capture river plastic. Additionally, the startup will use the funding to open two material-recovery facilities to sort and recycle the collected materials. In the first year alone, these measures will create 20 local jobs. 

Uwe Lauber – CEO of Everllence – said: “For many years, we have been a driver of the maritime energy transition and contributed to sustainable shipping with our technologies. Protecting oceans and waterways is therefore especially important to us. Plastic Fischer has been carrying out impressive work in this field for many years, and we are proud and happy to support their mission.” 

Karsten Hirsch – CEO and founder of Plastic Fischer – said: “We are very pleased to take our next big step with Everllence and expand into two new locations at once. This long-term support will help us build infrastructure and drive sustainable change on-site. Over the coming years, we will remove hundreds of tons of ocean and river plastic, create dozens of jobs, and explore new ways to properly process river plastic. We are proud to have earned Everllence’s trust to build a flagship project with a strong local impact together.” 

Plastic pollution destroys ecosystems and contributes to the loss of biodiversity. 80% of ocean plastic originates from river pollution and can be more effectively tackled there. This prevents its spread into the ocean as microplastics and garbage patches. 

Plastic Fischer uses specially-developed barriers — so-called ‘TrashBooms’ — to capture plastic directly in rivers. These systems are built locally using available resources with the material collected then recycled by the company wherever possible. Non-recyclable waste is processed in cement plants — a more environmentally-friendly alternative to landfill or incineration –  as it produces no residues like ash and simultaneously replaces fossil fuels.

Act locally, impact globally
As part of the partnership, regular joint-collection campaigns with employees will take place at Everllence locations in India. The company operates at four sites domestically, manufacturing four-stroke engines and steam turbines. In addition to production facilities in Aurangabad and Bangalore, Everllence runs a PrimeServ service workshop in Vadodara and a sales office in Mumbai. 

Michael Melzer, Head of Experience Communications and responsible for donations and sponsorships at Everllence, said: “What convinced us about Plastic Fischer, in addition to our shared commitment to protecting waterways, was its local approach. Together, not only can we fight plastic waste but we can also make a contribution to local economic development around our Indian sites. Furthermore, our employees in Bangalore and Vadodara can volunteer in the cleanups – it’s a great cooperation.”