Turning fishing net pollution into recycled raw materials

Bureo has pioneered turning harmful discarded fishing nets into recycled raw materials used by brands such as Patagonia, Toyota, and Trek. With collection programmes in six countries, 1,000+ tonnes of discarded nets are collected yearly and recycled Nylon sold to 20+ brand partners under the company’s NetPlus® trademark.

Circular Plastics
www.bureo.co

Founders

David Stover
Ben Kneppers
Kevin Ahearn

Founders

David Stover
Ben Kneppers
Kevin Ahearn

Established in 2013, Bureo’s mission is to end fishing net pollution to protect the oceans through community empowerment.

The California-based company, which operates in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and the US, has so far collected more than 4,500 tonnes of discarded fishing nets, with 1,100 tonnes collected in 2022.

The company, which is expanding its own processing facility in Chile with a current capacity of 1,200 tonnes per year, has also set up new pre-processing facilities in Latin America to have local footprint in each collection geography.

Some 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year, of which between 640 and 800 thousand tonnes are abandoned nets with the FAO estimating that 10% of all marine waste is made up of discarded fishing nets.

The recycling raw materials, under Bureo’s trademarked NetPlus® through a traceable supply chain, are sold to 20+ brand partners such as Patagonia, Toyota and Trek.

“This investment will enable Ocean 14 Capital to deliver the innovation needed to meet our climate and sustainability goals. The sustainable blue economy is now a key focus for us and this is a rallying cry for start-up and scale-up marine innovators globally to come forward and help avert the crisis in our oceans and return them to a healthy thriving state.”

Jean Castellini Minister of Finance and Economy of Monaco

“There has never been a more important time to invest in the oceans as a critical way to protect our planet and combat climate change. I am excited to back Ocean 14 Capital and their vision to make a significant positive impact in the blue economy.”

Niklas Zennström

“Builders Vision Fund is excited to be part of Ocean Capital Fund I’s first close. Builders is committed to developing the ecosystem of businesses focused on ocean health and sustainability. We believe the team at Ocean14 Capital have the drive and commitment to lead this impact-focused growth fund for oceans to meaningful market investments that can improve the health of our oceans.”

Peter Bryant Senior Program Officer, Builders Initiative

“Impact investments are an important part of Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker’s investment strategy and with the investment in Ocean 14 Capital Fund I we will total ten impact investments. Our interest in Ocean 14 Capital stems from the importance we see in ensuring sustainable business practices in the ocean to foster future prosperity for this vital part of our ecosystem alongside the unique capabilities we have identified within the team. For this reason, we are delighted to become a cornerstone investor in this exciting venture.”

Claus Gregersen Chief Executive Officer, Chr. Augustinus Fabrikker

“In line with SDG14, our key objective through the Flourishing Ocean’s initiative is to return our ocean to a healthy thriving state. To facilitate this, we are committed to ending overfishing; ending the dumping of plastic, heat and CO2 in our ocean; supporting the sustainable use of ocean resources; conserving key habitats; and facilitating world class research. This is why we are supporting a new venture where the Ocean 14 Capital Fund will invest in projects aligned to our objectives.”

Dr. Tony Worby Chief Executive Officer, Minderoo Foundation’s Flourishing Ocean