Sustainable travel and accessories brand, Solgaard has participated in a program to clear an estimated three million pounds of ocean-bound plastic from coastal communities and waterways worldwide to date.
Ocean-bound plastic (OPB) is plastic that is discarded within 50 kilometers of the ocean in a place where there waste management is non-existent or insufficient, making the plastic “at risk of ending up in the ocean.” According to Zero Plastic Oceans, OBP is estimated to generate 80% of plastic marine litter. It includes a lot of non-commercially recyclable plastic waste and a small fraction of commercially recyclable plastic waste.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest contributors to ocean plastic because it has an abundance of single use plastic used by tourists, and an inadequate waste management system. Some of Solgaard’s efforts include the establishment of a plastic waste collection and sorting facility in the mangroves of Denpasar, Bali, in addition to a series of river waste collection barriers installed across Indonesia. Indonesia’s rivers and surrounding ecosystems, such as its mangroves and coastal waters, are vital to the region’s biodiversity.
The effort was led by Solgaard-Nyx Foundation, a science-backed non-profit founded by Solgaard Founder and CEO, Adrian Solgaard, and Lindsey Nyx Walker, which focuses on plastic cleanup and community education efforts. Rewilding the earth is a core goal of The Solgaard Nyx Foundation. The foundation works closely collaboration with multiple environmental impact and plastic cleanup partners, including but not limited to, Sungai Watch, CRDC Global, and CLOCC.
Solgaard, which promises 6 pounds of plastic cleanup with every product sold, focuses on using recycled plastic in its products. In spring 2025, Pershing Square Philanthropies committed funding to expand the cleanup efforts of Solgaard and the Solgaard-Nyx Foundation. Moving forward, this new funding will allow cleanup efforts to scale to include household waste collection and machinery, to convert low value plastics collected into waste-to-energy pellets for use at local Indonesian concrete kilns and fishing canneries.
“One of the most important aspects of our impact work preventing plastic from reaching the ocean is our holistic approach to waste cleanup, which includes low grade plastic, which many other collection efforts overlook.” said Adrian Solgaard, Founder and CEO. “At Solgaard, we’re serious about having a clean planet. Now that we have over half a million customers, three million pounds of plastic collected is a major milestone.”
The Solgaard Nyx Foundation is fiscally sponsored by Far Away Projects, a 501c3 entity.
