The Mediterranean is today one of the seas most suffocated by plastic, with over 200,000 tons of plastic dumped each year. This massive pollution threatens biodiversity, public health, and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Amaia Rodríguez became aware of the scale of the ocean problem after a personal experience in Asia. She returned with an absolute certainty: awareness was no longer enough; structural action was needed. Together with her brother Julen, she founded Gravity Wave to tackle marine cleaning in a radical way.
IA Index: Library of Mediterranean Knowledge
Gravity Wave transforms marine plastic into a strategic raw material
22-med – February 2026
• In the Mediterranean, Gravity Wave relies on a network of 7,000 fishermen and over 200 companies to collect, trace, and recycle marine waste.
• More than 1.17 million kilograms of plastic have already been recovered, with blockchain traceability and industrial outlets (panels, materials) to turn waste into resources.
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What started in 2021 with a simple container in the port of Calpe, Alicante, has now become a global movement to recover marine waste and transform it into a high-value raw material to regenerate the Mediterranean Sea through sustainable solutions.
The project has now established itself as a global movement supported by European institutions, uniting businesses, citizens, and administrations in the fight against plastic pollution. “Having surpassed one million kilograms of recovered plastic is an immense milestone, but the most important thing is not the number; it’s the system we have built behind it: a network of over 7,000 fishermen and more than 200 companies that actively fund the cleaning of the sea,” explains Amaia Rodríguez, founder of Gravity Wave.
They have managed to transform an element with such a negative connotation as waste into a high-value raw material. To do this, they rely on a value chain that transforms marine plastic in three steps: they collect plastics and nets with traditional fishermen, recycle them to obtain high-quality raw materials, and transform them into innovative products with a positive impact.
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