CLEAR RIVERS

01/09/2026

19/08/2026

Our litter traps have collected 35 nitrous oxide cylinders over the past few months!!!

💚Luckily, these containers don't have to end their journey as waste. We can separate the plastic handles to be recycled in our Circular Workshop, and the metal canisters will be recycled separately too (once emptied😬).

♻️Often, materials that have been discarded can still be recovered, sorted and put back into circulation and this is a great example of that!

💚That being said, we would love to see less of these gas cylinders showing up in our litter traps in the first place!

31/07/2026

💚🌍Big thank you to Rabobank Coöperatie Fonds Rotterdam!!!

🙌We are incredibly grateful to have received a very generous donation in support of our new Circular Workshop. And we want to extend our thanks to René Plugge, who presented us with the cheque at our office on the Persoonshaven.

♻️Thanks to this contribution, we'll be able to purchase the specialised tools needed for our recycling process - a vital step in transforming collected plastic waste into valuable new products. The tools will be used in our upcoming Circular Workshop, where we will demonstrate how plastic waste can be given new life as a durable new product.

💚We can't wait to share our progress with you!!!

27/07/2026

♻️Here's how we empty our litter traps!♻️

Every week, we empty our CLEAR RIVERS litter traps in Rotterdam, preventing plastic and other floating debris from polluting our waters.

By capturing litter before it travels downstream, we help protect rivers, wildlife, and ultimately the ocean.♻️🌍

Make sure to follow along to see our 'Catch of the Week', when we will show the unexpected items that end up in our litter traps...

24/07/2026

🇷🇴Update from Romania🇷🇴

♻️The second of three new litter traps in Romania has now been installed!!!

🌍This litter trap has been placed in the Crișul Repede river near the town of Girișu de Criș, which lies near the Romanian-Hungarian border. And so, the litter trap will prevent plastic and other floating debris from entering Hungarian waters.

🌱The third and final litter trap is currently being installed and we can't wait to share more updates with you!

23/07/2026

We are very pleased to announce that the first of three new CLEAR RIVERS litter traps has been successfully installed in the Barcǎu river in Hodoş, Romania.

This installation was made possible through the collaboration and commitment of our local partners, whose support was essential for the successful implementation of the litter trap.

By capturing floating litter before it can travel downstream, this trap will help prevent waste from crossing the border into Hungary, protecting shared waterways.

This is the first of three litter traps that we will be installing along the romanian-hungarian border in the coming weeks. We look forward to sharing more updates and information. Be sure to follow along!

01/06/2026

🌱 Four Floating Wetland Models Deployed in Can Tho for Water Quality Research

In early May, four floating wetland models developed through the From Waste To Wetlands programme were successfully deployed in Can Tho City, Vietnam.

The research aims to evaluate:
💧 The effectiveness of floating wetlands in supporting water quality improvement in urban canals
♻️ The application of recycled plastic waste as a sustainable material for floating wetland platforms
🌿 The potential of nature-based solutions for ecosystem restoration in the Mekong Delta

The study is being conducted by the Environmental Science Research Team at Can Tho University, under the supervision of Dr. Ngo Thuy Diem Trang.

Field preparation activities included:
• Removing water hyacinths from the research area
• Installing containment barriers to prevent re-infestation
• Deploying floating wetland systems planted with native species, including:
🌿Cyperus alternifolius (Umbrella Sedge)
🌿Echinodorus cordifolius (Creeping Burhead)
🌿Canna generalis (Canna Lily)

Over the coming months, the team will monitor plant growth, platform performance, and water quality indicators to assess the environmental benefits and scalability of this approach.

The project demonstrates how plastic waste recovered from waterways can be transformed into practical infrastructure that supports ecological restoration and sustainable water management.

The From Waste To Wetlands programme is implemented by the Recycled Island Foundation – CLEAR RIVERS, with sponsorship from the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

30/05/2026

In Dordrecht we've concluded another successful pilot with electric propulsion. A propeller engine pushes plastic debris to the (other) side of the canal where our Litter trap can be placed for effective retrieval and removal. In Dordrecht we've tested different engines with different flow speed. The aim of the pilot is to come to a longtime durable solution to stop plastic pollution without disturbing its surroundings and boat-/ship traffic.
In the coming months we will do similar pilots in Delft and Brussels.

Interested if this concept can stop your local plastic pollution issues, please reach out.

26/05/2026

Three new Litter traps are nearing completion and getting ready to be installed in Romania! After previous successful implementations in Oradea and Tinca we're super enthusiastic to install 3 more passive debris collectors in Romania. All 3 Litter Traps will be installed near the Romanian-Hungarian border and will prevent plastic litter from reaching Hungarian waters.

21/05/2026

In 2018 we installed our 1st Litter Trap in Brussels. The trap captures plastic litter on a daily basis and is emptied by .brussels 💙