ESG Decoded Podcast Lefteris Arapakis Discusses How the Fishing Industry Contributes to Circular Economy
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In this episode, Kaitlyn Allen talks with Lefteris Arapakis, Co-Founder and Director of Enaleia, an organization with a vision to make the marine ecosystem sustainable. Lefteris won the United Nations European Young Champion of the Earth 2020 award and was named the Ambassador for the Mediterranean Coast by UNEP-MAP for 2021-2022. He is an Athens University of Economics and Business graduate, TEDx speaker, and an AshokaChangemaker - listed in 2020's Greek Forbes 30under30 List.
Lefteris comes from a long line of Greek professional fishermen. During the Greek economic crisis, he co-founded Enaleia, an organization with a vision to make the marine ecosystem sustainable. Enaleia created the first school for professional fishing in Greece and two wide-scale plastic clean-ups, the Mediterranean Cleanup & Bahari Safi. Working with 1.600 fishers, they collected waste and integrated it into the circular economy. The Mediterranean Cleanup is one of Europe's Top 5 marine plastic clean-ups.
Listen as Kaitlyn and Lefteris discuss this innovative business model positively impacting fishers and sowing into the circular economy. While fishing, many nets capture large amounts of plastic waste that is simply returned to the ocean. Enaleia shares ways to recycle plastic with little to no expended energy or CO2 emissions to counter the effects of plastic pollution. This plastic then becomes a myriad of products that are useful to consumers. Before the solutions presented by Enaleia, it was predicted that by 2050 there would be more plastic in the oceans than fish. Thanks to this thought leadership, that trajectory may be course correcting.
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