addition all of the plastic which floats around is already covered with microbes and other organisms It s actually its own new ecosystem Our new focus is to implement these platforms in rivers and estuaries because 80 of all the land based plastic which enters the ocean flows from rivers into the sea and we want to stop it there before it can enter the oceans And getting it all funded is an ongoing challenge of course What are your immediate and long term goals for PGS The short term goal is to develop a prototype within the next two years which we can implement in rivers The long term goal would be not just to implement it in Germany and Europe but also in Asian and African rivers from where the most plastic is entering the ocean We also want to find a sustainable way to recycle the plastic And of course to establish a worldwide education pro gram to motivate people to change their lifestyles Which technologies could help with processing the plastic to make sure PGS is as sustainable as possible Because material recycling is not necessarily the best op tion for degraded plastics recovered from the environment we are adding a couple of partners to look into different possibilities One would be to make oil out of the plastic but that s not the best way for me because ultimately we would burn it again So this would be just the first step Another approach would be to gasify it to get hydrogen to be used in a sustainable way for energy Or we might be able to work with microbes that can break down the mo lecular structure of the plastic and the composite plastic which could also upcycle the basic components to create new products of higher value Similar projects have faced insurmountable logistical and technical challenges in the past Why do you think PGS will be different I think that ours is different in that we are not just focusing on the plastic which is floating on the surface but also on the smaller particles underneath And I think we could have a bigger impact on the problem because we ve adapted our solution to fit with rivers and estuaries A lot of projects also just focus on the technical solutions but they don t think about education We are also showing people that everyone can make a change and awareness is the first step in stopping the plastic problem before it even starts How can consumers support you Of course we are always looking for donations to help us make this project a reality You can become a member from just 12 Euros a year not that much but it helps us to continue our work Apart from that everybody can make a small contribution to sustainability in their everyday life nothing is too small to make a difference The original idea of PGS was based on a floating platform with a special construction that can filter plastic particles out of the water Now the new focus is on implementing these platforms in rivers and estuaries BEYOND WATER BATHROOM KITCHEN AND WATER STORIES 84 85 Master en 193x257 GROHE BW Magazine 1 2019 Content 150dpi 84 11 11 19 17 19

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