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Solar Impulse partner Plastic Odyssey

The Solar Impulse Foundation Sets Sail with The Plastic Odyssey to Find New Solutions to Plastic Pollution

The Plastic Odyssey vessel, which will set sail in 2021, will embark the Solar Impulse Foundation team to uncover new solutions to reduce the use of plastic throughout the expedition’s 30 stopovers.

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The Quest for The 1000 Solutions of The Solar Impulse Foundation

Launched by the explorer Bertrand Piccard, who accomplished the first solar-powered flight, the Solar Impulse Foundation aims to elect and promote 1000 solutions to protect the environment profitably.

In May 2018, the Foundation launched the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label, which has already been rewarded with over 800 innovations. To reach out to new solution providers across the globe, the Solar Impulse Foundation is partnering with Plastic Odyssey, the first laboratory vessel for the reduction and recycling of plastic waste.

“You think there is nothing left to explore on this Planet? There are indeed few unknown territories left. But there are still many solutions to be discovered that aim to protect the environment. This is the goal of the Solar Impulse Foundation with its 1000 solutions quest, and I am delighted to set sail with the Plastic Odyssey to find even more of these innovations.” Says Bertrand Piccard, Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation.

BERTRAND PICCARD solar impulse

The Plastic Odyssey Expedition

The Plastic Odyssey expedition aims to uncover, develop, and disseminate solutions for the recycling of plastic waste, where the lack of waste management systems is at the source of Ocean pollution.

The entire front deck of the vessel is dedicated to solutions that aim to reduce plastic pollution. This space, designated Build the Future, will allow solutions to be tested at the scale of the vessel and its 20 crew members around the world, to then be replicated across onshore facilities (hotels, restaurants, or businesses).

Among these onboard solutions, one of them has already been labeled by the Solar Impulse Foundation. InovaYa: a machine that enables water to be drinkable, which prevents the vessel from carrying plastic bottles on board.

solutions plastic pollution

A Shared Quest Towards The Discovery of New Solutions

Unknown solutions are hiding all over the planet, wherever the craziest inventors have given birth to them. And to uncover these innovations, the Foundation is boarding the Plastic Odyssey.

To discover these innovations, the crew will invite the Solar Impulse Foundation team to participate in some of the vessel’s stopovers to elect the best solutions. Thus, juries will be organized directly on board the 40-meter laboratory vessel, across the three continents targeted by the expedition: Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

In addition to sharing the vessel to find these innovations, the Solar Impulse Foundation has launched a call for projects within its community of labeled solutions to enable them to participate in the reconstruction work. The solutions sought to relate to alternative materials for layout, onboard energy management, and consumption, as well as waste treatment.

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