OUR MISSION
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ROUND RIVERS cleans the Swiss river Limmat from plastic waste and turns the collected PET bottles into flakes, granules, yarns, textiles and upcycled clothing - swimwear and winter jackets. Every production step is made locally, within a production radius of 140km only. Starting with the raw material sourcing makes ROUND RIVERS a pioneering project. On one hand, the company is cleaning up Swiss rivers through its environmentally activist approach and, on the other, all processing steps are carried out with local partners. The big advantage: a transparent supply chain - from the PET bottle out of the river to the finished product.
THE PROBLEM WE FOUND:
Every day, around 8 million pieces of plastic flow into our oceans - through our rivers. Bigger plastic parts are caught wherever there are water barriers, like hydropower plants. However, the caught plastic is not utilised but incinerated, ends up as CO2 and releases toxic substances that we inhale and that damage our health. ROUND RIVERS removes the plastic from the river before it is taken out and incinerated and uses it to make local upcycling products - winter jackets and swimwear.
SWISS RIVER PLASTIC TURNS MATERIAL
Let us show you the processing and the all people behind this unique river clean up project:
1. RIVER CLEAN UP, ZURICH, CH
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This is Peter, the founder of ROUND RIVERS, fishing PET-bottles straight out of the water at the hydropower plant EWZ Kraftwerk Letten in Zurich, where all river waste gets stucked. Yes, he really picks up every bottle – and yes, by hand. Since their start in 2019, they've fished out more than 50'000 PET-bottles – and every day a few more.
2. FLAKES PRODUCTION, THURGAU, CH
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The second step is the flakes production which takes place in Thurgau, which is in the center of Switzerland. As production runs 24/7, ROUND RIVERS works according to the olive oil principle. A quantity X of river plastic is handed over to the processor and the same quantity is taken out again. Mixing with other PET cannot be fully avoided, as the machine would have to be stopped to guarantee this. Our aim is to clean more rivers soon and to get 100% of our own river waste converted.
3. GRANULES & YARN PRODUCTION, TICINO, CH
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The little plastic flakes, which are around 2-5mm, are handed over to a production plant in Ticino. Luckily, both production steps (granules and yarns) can be made in this factory which makes it very efficient and more sustainable. The plastic flakes are melted into granules, which are around 1.5mm in diameter and will be then processed into super fine filament yarn. Various yarn qualities can be produced from this filament yarn. One yarn can consist of up to 167 filament yarns. In this phase, the yarn is already produced in such a way that it is suitable for the later application, like swimwear or winter jackets.
4. FABRIC PRODUCTION, VARESE, NORTH-ITALY
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The Swiss made yarn is then transported across the border to Northern-Italy, where it is processed into textiles in Varese. A third-generation family business supports is knitting and weaving different textiles for us. The best - all textiles are produced and dyed using 100% sustainable solar power.
5. TAILORING, COMO & BERGAMO, NORTH-ITALY
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Finally, the different kind of textiles are than cut and produced into garments.
SWIMMWEAR: When we were looking for a swimwear producer, we found a partner and when we first met them it was like a surreal movie scene. We walked into the company and saw a very very old lady from the back teaching the younger generation how to make garments in the best way. It turned out the 81-year-old woman was the founder of the company – 60 years ago. The son, almost 60, could not have given us a more warm welcome with his siblings of about the same age. The third generation will follow in their footsteps and is already being trained.
WINTER WEAR: Our partner for the winter jackets could not be better – not even slightly. Another family business in the second generation. Federico, Matteo & the founder, Angelo, are of great help and always meets us with friendliness and professionalism. The company works with 100% solar energy.
5. WAREHOUSE & SHIPMENTS, ZURICH, CH
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After we are picking up the garments in Northern-Italy, we bring them home to Zurich. For the warehouse and the shipments, we are working together with the ESPAS Foundation. People with cognitive disabilities take care of the storage of our products and make sure every order is packed correctly.
THANK YOU.
We are on a mission to make our planet a little bit better. Day by day, bottle by bottle. Together with your support, we can increase our impact and take out a few more, day by day. Thank you for making rivers round with us.