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Billionaire Who Made Fortune Polluting Oceans To Donate Wealth To Clean Them Up

He's building a massive ship to conduct research and remove plastics from the seas.
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By 

Business Reporter, HuffPost

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This story is part of a series on ocean plastics.

Our oceans may have found an unlikely savior.

Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke, who accrued his wealth in part through offshore oil drilling, announced this month that he’s donating the majority of his wealth to help save the oceans. Røkke is funding a 600-foot research yacht, which will tackle some of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time ― including how to rescue endangered species and eliminate plastic trash from our big blue seas.

“There may not be any economic rationale for the private construction of such a ship, but the case is compelling from the oceans’ point of view,” Røkke said in a statement. 

News of the research vessel comes at a time when environmental experts are growing increasingly concerned about the state of our oceans, while the public remains mostly uninterested. 

Among a number of initiatives, the Research Expedition Vessel will remove 5 tons of plastic a day from the oceans and melt them down. Some of the plastics will be used for fuel for the ship, and those that can’t be used for other purposes will be returned to waste management facilities on land.

Experts, including the World Wildlife Fund, which Røkke has partnered with, agree that collection isn’t enough. That’s why the researchers on board the ship will also work to develop plastic alternatives and identify ways to keep plastics from entering the ocean to begin with, Nina Jensen, CEO of WWF Norway, told HuffPost. WWF works to protect endangered species and natural places.

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Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke announced this month that he will fund the construction of a massive yacht, which will conduct research and work to remove plastics from the oceans.
JENS BUETTNER via Getty Images

A devastating amount of plastic gets dumped or leaches into marine waters regularly. While precise figures are challenging to nail down, one of the best estimates available says 19 billion pounds of plastic wind up in the ocean every year.

At this rate, there will be more plastic than fish (by weight) in the ocean by 2050.

Additionally, due to overfishing, pollution and other issues, more than a third of populations of marine fish, mammals, birds and reptiles have been lost since the 1970s, according to WWF. 

It’s unclear how much the construction of the REV will actually cost, but its proposed amenities and research initiatives are expansive. Outfitted with two helipads and modern laboratories, the REV will accommodate 60 scientists and 40 crew members, and it may be the largest yacht in the world when it’s delivered in 2020, according to Business Insider. 

WWF Norway will be charged with helping to develop the project and will reach out to scientific communities, among other tasks. An independent committee will be responsible for choosing projects to pursue, and researchers from all over the world will have a chance to apply.

Worth $2.7 billion, Røkke owns nearly 67 percent of Aker BioMarine, a shipping and offshore drilling conglomerate, according to Forbes. Jensen admitted that it might seem unusual for an environmental group to partner with an oil tycoon, but that such collaborations are necessary to make significant progress.

“One of Nina Jensen’s guiding principles is that the world would be a much better place if we spend more time talking to those we disagree with, rather than just spending time with like-minded people,” Heidi Katrine Bang, public relations manager at WWF Norway, told HuffPost.

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Among a number of initiatives, the Research Expedition Vessel will remove 5 tons of plastic a day from the oceans and melt them down.
MBPROJEKT_Maciej_Bledowski via Getty Images

WWF Norway and Røkke first began working together about a decade ago, Bang added. Though they disagree on a number of issues, including oil exploration, they will continue to have ongoing discussions about those differences, Jensen told Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. Røkke will continue to be involved with Aker. 

“We will still challenge Mr. Røkke when we disagree with him,” Jensen told Aftenposten.

In addition to conducting research, the REV will be available for private charters, which will help generate funding. It will also be used privately by the Røkke family, but it’s primary purpose will be to identify how to better protect the oceans and marine life. 

“We probably know more about outer space than the ocean space,” Røkke wrote said in a statement released by WWF. “The research vessel facilitates increased knowledge of the challenges, and for finding measures of improvement. The focus is on possibilities and solutions.” 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the amount of plastic the Research Expedition Vessel will collect on a daily basis. It will collect about 5 tons of plastic a day. 

Before You Go

10 Things You Can Do Now To Reduce Your Plastic Footprint
Reduce use of all plastic products, but especially single-use ones(01 of10)
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Plastics are an invaluable material, used to make everything from medical equipment to parts of buildings, and nixing them completely from your daily life would be near-impossible. “Plastic has done incredible things for us as a society and it has an appropriate place,” said Nick Mallos of the Ocean Conservancy.

What we need to remember is to minimize our plastic waste (and really, all waste just generally) ― that includes recyclable plastics and compostable or biodegradable ones too.

“Someone might buy a new iPhone and say, 'Well, since I recycled my old phone with Apple, I’m all good.' But Apple doesn’t tell you just how little of that iPhone actually gets recycled,” said Adam Minter, author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in The Billion-Dollar Trash Trade. “People need to stop thinking of recycling as a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card. You haven’t actually done anything good for the environment. You’ve just done something less bad.” (More on that below.)

“If we really want to deal with the waste problem we’re facing, we need to think deeper about the nature of consumption itself,” Minter said.

Reducing single-use plastic products are especially key. Single-use plastic packaging, like plastic bags, containers, straws and cutlery, is the “biggest source of trash” found in or near water bodies worldwide, according to Mallos.

Start bringing your own reusable bag to the supermarket and a reusable bottle for your water; refuse a straw when you order a beverage and leave a set of reusable cutlery at your desk at work.

Click here to learn more tips and tricks on how you can give up single-use plastics. (credit:Getty Images)
Don't litter(02 of10)
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This might seem straightforward, but preventing litter is a critical action to ensure that plastic waste gets properly disposed of and doesn’t end up in our seas or other environments.

According to environmental engineer and plastics expert Jenna Jambeck, mismanaged waste like litter is the number one cause of plastic garbage is the world’s oceans. That plastic bag that got caught in a breeze could end up in a storm drain; that empty plastic bottle left on a beach could get carried out by a tide.

Ocean Conservancy recommends always “taking five” whenever you leave a space to ensure that you’ve collected all your trash and disposed of it properly.

Plastic bags, which often can’t be recycled (more below), are especially prone to becoming litter as they are easily carried away in the wind (yet another reason to not use them!). If you must throw one away though, be sure it’s balled up or weighed down so it can’t easily float away. (credit:Reuters)
Recycle when you can, and do it right(03 of10)
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Recycling plastics is much more complicated than you might think. It’s so complex, in fact, that a significant amount of discarded plastics (even the ones you put into the recycling bin) don’t end up being recycled. In general, less than 7 percent of all the plastic that Americans throw away each year are recycled and about 8 percent is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities. The rest end up in landfills.

The reasons for these low numbers are manifold, said Darby Hoover, a waste management specialist with the Natural Resources Defence Council. But generally, it boils down to two major problems: Firstly, there are many different kinds of plastics and not all of them are easily recycled; and secondly, consumers often aren't aware of these differences and therefore don't dispose of plastics in the best way.

“You know that little triangle on plastic products? The little triangle is not an indicator that something is recyclable. Instead, it’s merely a designation — numbered 1 to 7 — of what kind of plastic it is, what polymer that plastic is,” explained Hoover. A number 1, for instance, indicates that the item is made of Polyethylene terephthalate (or PET, for short), a material typically used to make bottles and microwaveable food containers; while a number 2 indicates high-density polyethylene, the stuff plastic grocery bags are usually made of. The most complicated designation is number 7, which indicates all other plastics -- including products with a mixture of various plastics in them and also compostable plastics.

Recyclers use these numbers to determine which items can be recycled at their facility and which can’t. Different kinds of plastics typically can’t be recycled together, and many facilities won’t accept certain types of plastic at all, like styrofoam, vinyl and plastic film products like plastic bags and cling-wrap (these products have been known to gum up recycling equipment).

To add to the confusion, local municipalities across the U.S. have differing rules when it comes to recycling plastics. Some might accept type 7 plastics, for instance, but others will not.

“No matter where you live, you have to check the local municipality for their rules,” said Hoover, who recommended reviewing your local city or town website for more information. You also have to continue checking in, she added, as these rules often change without much warning. (credit:Getty Images)
Choose non-synthetic fabrics when possible(04 of10)
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Studies have found that microplastics — plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters long — can get washed out of synthetic clothing, like those made of polyester or acrylic.

A single cycle of a washing machine could release more than 700,000 microplastic fibers into the environment, concluded one 2016 paper.

Natural fabrics to consider instead include organic cotton, wool, flax and hemp. (credit:Getty Images)
Say no to microbeads(05 of10)
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Plastic microbeads are sometimes added as an exfoliating agent to personal care and beauty products like face scrubs, soaps and toothpaste. These tiny plastic pieces can pass unfiltered through sewage treatment systems and end up in local waterways, and eventually the sea.

Recognizing the potential risk that microbeads pose to marine environments and possibly human health, several countries, including the U.S. and the United Kingdom, have introduced bans of the substance.

Many of these bans have yet to be enforced, however, and some are limited in scope, so remain vigilant when purchasing products that could have microbeads in them (look out for terms like “exfoliator,” "scrub,” “buff” and “polish”).

Visit the Beat the Microbead website to learn more. (credit:Getty Images)
Participate in cleanup efforts(06 of10)
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Every year, Ocean Conservancy organizes the International Coastal Cleanup, a global event that asks volunteers to collect plastic and other garbage from coastal areas and waterways. Last year, more than 700,000 people in more than a 100 countries participated in the event, collecting more than 18 million pounds of trashin a single day.

In 2017, the cleanup event is planned for Sept. 16 ― but you don’t have to wait till then to do something. Ocean Conservancy has a DIY toolkit to help you organize cleanups in your own community. (credit:Getty Images)
Support plastic bag legislation(07 of10)
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Using a plastic bag for groceries may seem convenient, but the ubiquitous sack is one of America’s greatest waste challenges. An average American family of four uses more than 1,500 plastic bags every year, according to the NRDC. Each bag is typically only used for about 12 minutes. Yet since plastic bags are very rarely recycled, most of them end up in landfills where they can languish for many hundreds of years.

Reducing your use of plastic bags is one important way to mitigate this waste problem. But another way to make a big impact is to support local, state and federal single-use bag legislation -- specifically legislation that supports the reduction of all kinds of single-use bags including plastic and paper, according to Jennie Romer, a New York City lawyer and founder of the website Plastic Bag Laws.

Across the country, there are already many ordinances in place related to single-use bags. Last year, California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags at all retail outlets, and in 2010, Washington D.C., implemented a 5-cent fee for all single-use bags, both plastic and paper. Cities and towns in Texas, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Colorado, among other states, have also embraced single-use bag legislation in some form or other.

For most of the nation, however, plastic and other single-use bags remain widely available. According to Romer, it’s extremely challenging to pass a plastic bag law — or even keep one in place (New York City is a prime example) — due to fierce opposition led mostly by lobbyists from the petroleum and plastic industry. “They fight bag regulations tooth and nail,” Romer said. “And their resources far outweigh that of the volunteers and grassroots community groups that are leading this fight.”

Preliminary evidence suggests that single-use bag legislation can be very effective in reducing waste. In Ireland, for instance, where a plastic bag tax was introduced in 2002, plastic bag use reportedly dropped by more than 90 percent in just a few weeks. In San Jose, California, a 2011 plastic bag ban resulted in a reduction of plastic litter by “approximately 89 percent in the storm drain system, 60 percent in the creeks and rivers, and 59 percent in City streets and neighborhoods,” stated a city report released almost a year after the ban was put in place.

Find out more about plastic bag legislation around the country and how you can get involved by visiting the Plastic Bag Laws website. (credit:Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Support companies that offer solutions to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics(08 of10)
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Use your dollar to support companies and entrepreneurs that are doing their part to reduce plastic waste in their business.

They might be rethinking product design, like this deodorant brand with its reusable, refillable containers; or incorporating recycled materials into their goods, like activewear companies that are turning plastic bottles into clothing or social enterprises like Greensole (pictured) that recycles old shoes into new ones.

There are also companies out there that are attempting to reduce waste across their entire value chain. Take Dell, which is recycling old computers into new ones as part of its closed-loop recycling supply chain. The company has also started harvesting ocean plastics to turn it into packaging material.

Consider also supporting green groups like 5Gyres, Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup, which are leading the fight to clean up the world’s oceans. (credit:Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Engage your family and friends(09 of10)
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Waste is not an issue people often talk about, but for change to occur, the conversations need to start.

“This is a critical issue that’s tied up in so many other environmental concerns,” said Minter. “Yet people seem to have an aversion to it. They just don’t take much of an interest. Where’s the Paris landfill conference? You don’t see environmental groups flying celebrities into anywhere to talk about waste.”

The dialogue can begin in your own home and among your own friends. Start engaging your loved ones and your community on this important issue. (credit:Getty Images)
Track your progress(10 of10)
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Start paying attention to the amount of plastic you use and waste on a daily basis. And as you start cutting back on your consumption, jot down a tally of all the plastics you “save.” You’ll likely be amazed.

Ocean Conservancy also has a Clean Swell App which lets you track your beach cleanup efforts. It lets you share your progress on social media and to submit data directly into a global ocean trash database. (credit:Getty Images)
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