STORY / PUBLIC SOURCE RECORD
Cleaning up plastic in the ocean with blockchain technology and ocean plastic certificates
- Published 9 March 2023; updated 21 September 2026; estimated reading time 4 minutes. DNV, Inframar and Empower are profiled as partners aiming to create a buyer-funded system for recovering ocean plastic. DNV’s Arnstein Eknes says voluntary clean-up alone does not reliably connect willing funders with collection operations or provide recycled feedstock at industrial scale.
- Inframar operates recovery vessels that collect, analyse and sort marine plastic. Empower provides blockchain-based recording, tracing and sales systems. DNV issues certificates based on chain of custody; the planned certificate data include collection time/place and material properties, stored in blockchain records intended to deter tampering and substantiate that the material came from the ocean rather than a landfill.
- The article presents traceability as necessary for buyers to trust environmental claims and for manufacturers seeking recycled material. Empower CEO Wilhelm Myrer says digital records are the project’s backbone; Eknes uses biofuel certification concerns as an example of why supply-chain traceability matters.
- The article’s operational targets are historical plans, not confirmed outcomes: collection and sales were planned to begin in early 2021; Inframar CEO Aron Uhre estimated 5,000 tonnes in the first 18 months and potential delivery of 20,000–30,000 tonnes from one vessel once connected to a larger manufacturer network. It said prospective buyers were already identified and described mapping recycling options in Southeast Asia.
- The article cautions that collecting plastic alone will not solve ocean pollution. It says reduction in single-use/discarded plastic is necessary, alongside better systems to route existing waste into circular production. The partners also hoped to build local recycling capacity in Southeast Asia, where the article says recycling mechanisms were inadequate.
- Named people: Arnstein Eknes (DNV, Business/Segment Director for Special Ships), Wilhelm Myrer (Empower CEO), Aron Uhre (Inframar CEO). Related industries: Circular economy and Technology. The page links to DNV, Inframar and Empower; no direct contact block is shown.