Our Story
Our Story
Our Story
Nov
2018
The spark: Vietnam vacation
The founders Karsten, Georg and Moritz went for a vacation to Vietnam to celebrate Karsten’s graduation from law-school. Their apartment was facing the Mekong and the three friends witnessed the plastic pollution of the river. Whenever they looked at the water, they could see plastic flowing down the river and being transported to the oceans.
Founding Plastic Fischer & moving to Indonesia
Back in Germany, they researched existing solutions but couldn’t find any organisation tackling ocean plastic already in rivers.
They built a waterwheel to collect waste with the natural river flow and successfully tested it in Cologne. Motivated by this, they founded Plastic Fischer – the first company in the world focussing on River Plastic.
Just two months later, Karsten and Moritz permanently moved to Indonesia to test the technology in heavily polluted rivers. There, they realized the waterwheel wasn’t suitable during the dry season, as the low flow couldn’t power the system. This challenge forced them to rethink their approach.
2019
Q1-Q2
2019
Q3-Q4
Invention of the TrashBoom: A global success
While living in Bandung, Karsten and Moritz worked on the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Supported by the Indonesian Army, they developed the idea for a low-cost, floating barrier that could stop river plastic around the clock.
After several iterations, the now well-known TrashBoom design was born, built from locally available materials and based on our proprietary 3L Initiative™. Its success quickly drew international attention: After deploying a system in Bali, the project gained national recognition and coverage from the World Economic Forum.
Soon, other organizations such as Sungai Watch, Seven Clean Seas, and The Ocean Cleanup began adopting similar approaches, showcasing the impact of Plastic Fischer’s invention.
Covid & Invention of Plastic Fischer Credits
In early 2020, the Covid Outbreak forced Karsten and Moritz to leave Indonesia. The months of on-the-ground experience helped them develop a deep understanding of rivers, River Plastic and the complexity of the problem.
The tricky part of how to finance the collection of mainly non-recyclable (= worthless) plastic remained unsolved. The time in lockdown helped to think about funding mechanisms in depth and we invented “Plastic Fischer Credits” - a thought we already had in Indonesia when we realised we don’t find enough recyclables to finance our work.
It was meant to be analogous to Carbon Credits and represented 1 ton of plastic that we collect and process in line with international best practices. We also successfully launched our GoFundMe campaign to restart operations in Bandung.
2020
2021
Building the core team & first commercial success
With Covid still preventing the founders from on-the-ground work, Karsten hired remotely. Harish and Rishabh became the first employees in India and now lead Plastic Fischer’s Indian entity as directors.
Aviel joined from Israel, bringing over a decade of experience as a Naval Engineer. He quit his job to travel India and came back with the decision to use his engineering skills to tackle plastic pollution. Together with Karsten, the three engineers laid the foundation of what Plastic Fischer is today.
In the same year, we won our first corporate partner with KNIPEX, deployed TrashBooms in Bangalore and Varanasi. Also, we turned the GoFundMe campaign into reality and started professional operations in Bandung, Indonesia which Karsten visited in December 2021. By the end of that year, we had installed 14 TrashBooms, removed 32 tons of River Plastic, and created over 30 local jobs in India and Indonesia.
10x Impact and Allianz Partnership
In 2022, we expanded significantly. Especially, because we signed a multi-year contract with Allianz to set up a flagship project in Trivandrum, India. Karsten was invited by the World Economic Forum to represent Plastic Fischer at the Annual Meeting in Davos as a “UpLink Top Innovator” in plastic pollution prevention. Also, Aviel and Karsten visited the project sites in India for the first time and finally met the local teams in person.
By year’s end, we had deployed 29 TrashBooms, prevented more than 400 tons of plastic from entering the oceans, and created over 70 jobs in India and Indonesia, scaling our environmental impact more than tenfold.
2022
2023
Global recognition & record impact
In March, again invited by the World Economic Forum, Karsten represented Plastic Fischer at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York City: An event held for the first time in 46 years to discuss and emphasise on the importance of preserving fresh water globally.
By the end of the year, we had collected and processed 1,200 tons of river plastic, the equivalent weight of around 30 Airbus A320s,mainly bags, packaging materials, and polystyrene from rivers in India and Indonesia. Our operations also provided stable employment and regular income to 88 local people.
A tough year for sustainability - and exceeding Allianz’ KPIs
In 2024, the economies around the world were struggling because of wars, elections, and overall uncertainty about what the future holds. Many organisations in Europe were busy with reporting duties and not open to commit to voluntary and impactful projects such as ours.
Luckily, we could count on our long-term partners to support us during these difficult times. At the year's end, we have prevented nearly 2 million kg of plastic from entering the oceans since 2021.
We also exceeded the ambitious KPIs we set in the beginning of 2022 with our most important partner yet: Allianz. The clear delivery of impact led to an extension of the contract with the aim to collect more than a million kg of River Plastic in Trivandrum alone.
2024
2025
Was sustainability just a trend? Not for us!
In January 2025, we set foot in 3 new locations on a full-scale basis. In Mumbai, we started working in the Thane Creek to protect one of the world’s most important habitats for Flamingos.
This multi-year project is part of Amazon’s Climate Fund.
Also, Everllence (formerly MAN Energy Solutions) committed to partnering with us in Vadodara and Bangalore to stop hundreds of tons of plastic and create dozens of local jobs.
The World Economic Forum invited us to attend the UN Ocean Conference in Nice where Karsten was able to connect with important leaders from all over the world and potentially initiated collaborations that could change the trajectory of Plastic Fischer.
Nov
2018
The spark: Vietnam vacation
The founders Karsten, Georg and Moritz went for a vacation to Vietnam to celebrate Karsten’s graduation from law-school. Their apartment was facing the Mekong and the three friends witnessed the plastic pollution of the river. Whenever they looked at the water, they could see plastic flowing down the river and being transported to the oceans.
Founding Plastic Fischer & moving to Indonesia
Back in Germany, they researched existing solutions but couldn’t find any organisation tackling ocean plastic already in rivers. They built a waterwheel to collect waste with the natural river flow and successfully tested it in Cologne. Motivated by this, they founded Plastic Fischer – the first company in the world focussing on River Plastic. Just two months later, Karsten and Moritz permanently moved to Indonesia to test the technology in heavily polluted rivers. There, they realized the waterwheel wasn’t suitable during the dry season, as the low flow couldn’t power the system. This challenge forced them to rethink their approach.
Back in Germany, they researched existing solutions but couldn’t find any organisation tackling ocean plastic already in rivers.
They built a waterwheel to collect waste with the natural river flow and successfully tested it in Cologne. Motivated by this, they founded Plastic Fischer – the first company in the world focussing on River Plastic.
Just two months later, Karsten and Moritz permanently moved to Indonesia to test the technology in heavily polluted rivers. There, they realized the waterwheel wasn’t suitable during the dry season, as the low flow couldn’t power the system. This challenge forced them to rethink their approach.
Back in Germany, they researched existing solutions but couldn’t find any organisation tackling ocean plastic already in rivers.
They built a waterwheel to collect waste with the natural river flow and successfully tested it in Cologne. Motivated by this, they founded Plastic Fischer – the first company in the world focussing on River Plastic.
Just two months later, Karsten and Moritz permanently moved to Indonesia to test the technology in heavily polluted rivers. There, they realized the waterwheel wasn’t suitable during the dry season, as the low flow couldn’t power the system. This challenge forced them to rethink their approach.
2019
Q1-Q2
2019
Q3-Q4
Invention of the TrashBoom: A global success
While living in Bandung, Karsten and Moritz worked on the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Supported by the Indonesian Army, they developed the idea for a low-cost, floating barrier that could stop river plastic around the clock. After several iterations, the now well-known TrashBoom design was born, built from locally available materials and based on our proprietary 3L Initiative™. Its success quickly drew international attention: After deploying a system in Bali, the project gained national recognition and coverage from the World Economic Forum. Soon, other organizations such as Sungai Watch, Seven Clean Seas, and The Ocean Cleanup began adopting similar approaches, showcasing the impact of Plastic Fischer’s invention.
While living in Bandung, Karsten and Moritz worked on the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Supported by the Indonesian Army, they developed the idea for a low-cost, floating barrier that could stop river plastic around the clock.
After several iterations, the now well-known TrashBoom design was born, built from locally available materials and based on our proprietary 3L Initiative™. Its success quickly drew international attention: After deploying a system in Bali, the project gained national recognition and coverage from the World Economic Forum.
Soon, other organizations such as Sungai Watch, Seven Clean Seas, and The Ocean Cleanup began adopting similar approaches, showcasing the impact of Plastic Fischer’s invention.
While living in Bandung, Karsten and Moritz worked on the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Supported by the Indonesian Army, they developed the idea for a low-cost, floating barrier that could stop river plastic around the clock.
After several iterations, the now well-known TrashBoom design was born, built from locally available materials and based on our proprietary 3L Initiative™. Its success quickly drew international attention: After deploying a system in Bali, the project gained national recognition and coverage from the World Economic Forum.
Soon, other organizations such as Sungai Watch, Seven Clean Seas, and The Ocean Cleanup began adopting similar approaches, showcasing the impact of Plastic Fischer’s invention.
Building the core team & first commercial success
Covid & Invention of Plastic Fischer Credits
Covid & Invention of Plastic Fischer Credits
With Covid still preventing the founders from on-the-ground work, Karsten hired remotely. Harish and Rishabh became the first employees in India and now lead Plastic Fischer’s Indian entity as directors. Aviel joined from Israel, bringing over a decade of experience as a Naval Engineer. He quit his job to travel India and came back with the decision to use his engineering skills to tackle plastic pollution. Together with Karsten, the three engineers laid the foundation of what Plastic Fischer is today. In the same year, we won our first corporate partner with KNIPEX, deployed TrashBooms in Bangalore and Varanasi. Also, we turned the GoFundMe campaign into reality and started professional operations in Bandung, Indonesia which Karsten visited in December 2021. By the end of that year, we had installed 14 TrashBooms, removed 32 tons of River Plastic, and created over 30 local jobs in India and Indonesia.
In early 2020, the Covid Outbreak forced Karsten and Moritz to leave Indonesia. The months of on-the-ground experience helped them develop a deep understanding of rivers, River Plastic and the complexity of the problem.
The tricky part of how to finance the collection of mainly non-recyclable (= worthless) plastic remained unsolved. The time in lockdown helped to think about funding mechanisms in depth and we invented “Plastic Fischer Credits” - a thought we already had in Indonesia when we realised we don’t find enough recyclables to finance our work.
It was meant to be analogous to Carbon Credits and represented 1 ton of plastic that we collect and process in line with international best practices. We also successfully launched our GoFundMe campaign to restart operations in Bandung.
In early 2020, the Covid Outbreak forced Karsten and Moritz to leave Indonesia. The months of on-the-ground experience helped them develop a deep understanding of rivers, River Plastic and the complexity of the problem.
The tricky part of how to finance the collection of mainly non-recyclable (= worthless) plastic remained unsolved. The time in lockdown helped to think about funding mechanisms in depth and we invented “Plastic Fischer Credits” - a thought we already had in Indonesia when we realised we don’t find enough recyclables to finance our work.
It was meant to be analogous to Carbon Credits and represented 1 ton of plastic that we collect and process in line with international best practices. We also successfully launched our GoFundMe campaign to restart operations in Bandung.
2020
2021
Invention of the TrashBoom: A global success
Building the core team & first commercial success
Building the core team & first commercial success
While living in Bandung, Karsten and Moritz worked on the Citarum, one of the world’s most polluted rivers. Supported by the Indonesian Army, they developed the idea for a low-cost, floating barrier that could stop river plastic around the clock. After several iterations, the now well-known TrashBoom design was born, built from locally available materials and based on our proprietary 3L Initiative™. Its success quickly drew international attention: After deploying a system in Bali, the project gained national recognition and coverage from the World Economic Forum. Soon, other organizations such as Sungai Watch, Seven Clean Seas, and The Ocean Cleanup began adopting similar approaches, showcasing the impact of Plastic Fischer’s invention.
With Covid still preventing the founders from on-the-ground work, Karsten hired remotely. Harish and Rishabh became the first employees in India and now lead Plastic Fischer’s Indian entity as directors.
Aviel joined from Israel, bringing over a decade of experience as a Naval Engineer. He quit his job to travel India and came back with the decision to use his engineering skills to tackle plastic pollution. Together with Karsten, the three engineers laid the foundation of what Plastic Fischer is today.
In the same year, we won our first corporate partner with KNIPEX, deployed TrashBooms in Bangalore and Varanasi. Also, we turned the GoFundMe campaign into reality and started professional operations in Bandung, Indonesia which Karsten visited in December 2021. By the end of that year, we had installed 14 TrashBooms, removed 32 tons of River Plastic, and created over 30 local jobs in India and Indonesia.
With Covid still preventing the founders from on-the-ground work, Karsten hired remotely. Harish and Rishabh became the first employees in India and now lead Plastic Fischer’s Indian entity as directors.
Aviel joined from Israel, bringing over a decade of experience as a Naval Engineer. He quit his job to travel India and came back with the decision to use his engineering skills to tackle plastic pollution. Together with Karsten, the three engineers laid the foundation of what Plastic Fischer is today.
In the same year, we won our first corporate partner with KNIPEX, deployed TrashBooms in Bangalore and Varanasi. Also, we turned the GoFundMe campaign into reality and started professional operations in Bandung, Indonesia which Karsten visited in December 2021. By the end of that year, we had installed 14 TrashBooms, removed 32 tons of River Plastic, and created over 30 local jobs in India and Indonesia.
10x Impact and Allianz Partnership
In 2022, we expanded significantly. Especially, because we signed a multi-year contract with Allianz to set up a flagship project in Trivandrum, India. Karsten was invited by the World Economic Forum to represent Plastic Fischer at the Annual Meeting in Davos as a “UpLink Top Innovator” in plastic pollution prevention. Also, Aviel and Karsten visited the project sites in India for the first time and finally met the local teams in person. By year’s end, we had deployed 29 TrashBooms, prevented more than 400 tons of plastic from entering the oceans, and created over 70 jobs in India and Indonesia, scaling our environmental impact more than tenfold.
In 2022, we expanded significantly. Especially, because we signed a multi-year contract with Allianz to set up a flagship project in Trivandrum, India. Karsten was invited by the World Economic Forum to represent Plastic Fischer at the Annual Meeting in Davos as a “UpLink Top Innovator” in plastic pollution prevention. Also, Aviel and Karsten visited the project sites in India for the first time and finally met the local teams in person.
By year’s end, we had deployed 29 TrashBooms, prevented more than 400 tons of plastic from entering the oceans, and created over 70 jobs in India and Indonesia, scaling our environmental impact more than tenfold.
In 2022, we expanded significantly. Especially, because we signed a multi-year contract with Allianz to set up a flagship project in Trivandrum, India. Karsten was invited by the World Economic Forum to represent Plastic Fischer at the Annual Meeting in Davos as a “UpLink Top Innovator” in plastic pollution prevention. Also, Aviel and Karsten visited the project sites in India for the first time and finally met the local teams in person.
By year’s end, we had deployed 29 TrashBooms, prevented more than 400 tons of plastic from entering the oceans, and created over 70 jobs in India and Indonesia, scaling our environmental impact more than tenfold.
2022
2023
Global recognition & record impact
In March, again invited by the World Economic Forum, Karsten represented Plastic Fischer at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York City: An event held for the first time in 46 years to discuss and emphasise on the importance of preserving fresh water globally. By the end of the year, we had collected and processed 1,200 tons of river plastic, the equivalent weight of around 30 Airbus A320s,mainly bags, packaging materials, and polystyrene from rivers in India and Indonesia. Our operations also provided stable employment and regular income to 88 local people.
In March, again invited by the World Economic Forum, Karsten represented Plastic Fischer at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York City: An event held for the first time in 46 years to discuss and emphasise on the importance of preserving fresh water globally.
By the end of the year, we had collected and processed 1,200 tons of river plastic, the equivalent weight of around 30 Airbus A320s,mainly bags, packaging materials, and polystyrene from rivers in India and Indonesia. Our operations also provided stable employment and regular income to 88 local people.
In March, again invited by the World Economic Forum, Karsten represented Plastic Fischer at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York City: An event held for the first time in 46 years to discuss and emphasise on the importance of preserving fresh water globally.
By the end of the year, we had collected and processed 1,200 tons of river plastic, the equivalent weight of around 30 Airbus A320s,mainly bags, packaging materials, and polystyrene from rivers in India and Indonesia. Our operations also provided stable employment and regular income to 88 local people.
A tough year for sustainability - and exceeding Allianz’ KPIs
In 2024, the economies around the world were struggling because of wars, elections, and overall uncertainty about what the future holds. Many organisations in Europe were busy with reporting duties and not open to commit to voluntary and impactful projects such as ours. Luckily, we could count on our long-term partners to support us during these difficult times. At the year's end, we have prevented nearly 2 million kg of plastic from entering the oceans since 2021. We also exceeded the ambitious KPIs we set in the beginning of 2022 with our most important partner yet: Allianz. The clear delivery of impact led to an extension of the contract with the aim to collect more than a million kg of River Plastic in Trivandrum alone.
In 2024, the economies around the world were struggling because of wars, elections, and overall uncertainty about what the future holds. Many organisations in Europe were busy with reporting duties and not open to commit to voluntary and impactful projects such as ours.
Luckily, we could count on our long-term partners to support us during these difficult times. At the year's end, we have prevented nearly 2 million kg of plastic from entering the oceans since 2021.
We also exceeded the ambitious KPIs we set in the beginning of 2022 with our most important partner yet: Allianz. The clear delivery of impact led to an extension of the contract with the aim to collect more than a million kg of River Plastic in Trivandrum alone.
In 2024, the economies around the world were struggling because of wars, elections, and overall uncertainty about what the future holds. Many organisations in Europe were busy with reporting duties and not open to commit to voluntary and impactful projects such as ours.
Luckily, we could count on our long-term partners to support us during these difficult times. At the year's end, we have prevented nearly 2 million kg of plastic from entering the oceans since 2021.
We also exceeded the ambitious KPIs we set in the beginning of 2022 with our most important partner yet: Allianz. The clear delivery of impact led to an extension of the contract with the aim to collect more than a million kg of River Plastic in Trivandrum alone.
2024
2025
Was sustainability just a trend? Not for us!
In January 2025, we set foot in 3 new locations on a full-scale basis. In Mumbai, we started working in the Thane Creek to protect one of the world’s most important habitats for Flamingos. This multi-year project is part of Amazon’s Climate Fund. Also, Everllence (formerly MAN Energy Solutions) committed to partnering with us in Vadodara and Bangalore to stop hundreds of tons of plastic and create dozens of local jobs.
The World Economic Forum invited us to attend the UN Ocean Conference in Nice where Karsten was able to connect with important leaders from all over the world and potentially initiated collaborations that could change the trajectory of Plastic Fischer.
In January 2025, we set foot in 3 new locations on a full-scale basis. In Mumbai, we started working in the Thane Creek to protect one of the world’s most important habitats for Flamingos.
This multi-year project is part of Amazon’s Climate Fund.
Also, Everllence (formerly MAN Energy Solutions) committed to partnering with us in Vadodara and Bangalore to stop hundreds of tons of plastic and create dozens of local jobs.
The World Economic Forum invited us to attend the UN Ocean Conference in Nice where Karsten was able to connect with important leaders from all over the world and potentially initiated collaborations that could change the trajectory of Plastic Fischer.
In January 2025, we set foot in 3 new locations on a full-scale basis. In Mumbai, we started working in the Thane Creek to protect one of the world’s most important habitats for Flamingos.
This multi-year project is part of Amazon’s Climate Fund.
Also, Everllence (formerly MAN Energy Solutions) committed to partnering with us in Vadodara and Bangalore to stop hundreds of tons of plastic and create dozens of local jobs.
The World Economic Forum invited us to attend the UN Ocean Conference in Nice where Karsten was able to connect with important leaders from all over the world and potentially initiated collaborations that could change the trajectory of Plastic Fischer.
In 2022, we expanded significantly. Especially, because we signed a multi-year contract with Allianz to set up a flagship project in Trivandrum, India. Karsten was invited by the World Economic Forum to represent Plastic Fischer at the Annual Meeting in Davos as a “UpLink Top Innovator” in plastic pollution prevention. Also, Aviel and Karsten visited the project sites in India for the first time and finally met the local teams in person.
By year’s end, we had deployed 29 TrashBooms, prevented more than 400 tons of plastic from entering the oceans, and created over 70 jobs in India and Indonesia, scaling our environmental impact more than tenfold.
Subscribe & Fisch 1 kg Plastic
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay tuned. We
inform you about new partnerships, impact-development
and all other news.
Subscribe &
Fisch 1 kg Plastic
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay tuned. We inform you about new partnerships, impact-development and all other news.
© 2025 - Plastic Fischer Powered by Framer,
Website Designed by Lukas Keysell
English
Subscribe &
Fisch 1 kg Plastic
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and stay tuned. We inform you about new partnerships, impact-development and all other news.
© 2025 - Plastic Fischer Powered by Framer,
Website Designed by Lukas Keysell
English
