Sea Change

The founder and managing director of the Ocean Recovery Alliance, Douglas Woodring—who was awarded the Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy this year by Prince Albert II of Monaco—talks to Steven Crane about the need for much greater global intervention to turn the tide of plastic pollution

- Steven Crane

SOME EIGHT MILLION tons of plastic enter rivers and oceans each year, threatening the planet’s freshwater and marine ecosystems. Given the borderless nature of this pollution, solutions require creative new ways of thinking, new technologies and, most importantly, collaboration, says Douglas Woodring.

What was your reaction to winning the Prince’s Prize for Innovative Philanthropy?

The prize is a powerful endorsement and validation of the global work we have been doing from Hong Kong over the past decade. Now that much of the world has awoken to the scale of the plastic issue, more companies and governments are embracing the programmes we have already been running for a number of years to tackle the problem. The award has shone further light on this.

What are these programmes?