Not everyone who dedicates their life to dirty oceans and rivers comes from somewhere close to a body of water. Matthias Egger, Head of Environmental and Social Affairs, hails from the Swiss mountains and dedicates his life to the science of making oceans and rivers cleaner for marine life and humans in the future.

He discusses how we help local communities by addressing global problems through a holistic but specific lens. While solving pollution on a small scale and changing people's lives, we work on global solutions. We use the data from river deployments in various countries to develop a blueprint for the future by writing Environmental and Social Impact Assessments. This way, we mitigate risks, monitor our actions to create a larger impact on the world, publish research, and strive to make upstream changes. For example, Matthias shares his experience at the INC negotiations, where over 160 countries work on the first international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.

He also talks about his personal experiences throughout his six years working for The Ocean Cleanup and what this means to him as a father.

Learn more about how we contribute to environmental and social impact here: https://theoceancleanup.com/environmental-and-social-impact/