Episode 8 is something close to our heart. Plastic Abuse. Jeroen, based out of Antwerp and RotterDam, two of the main European seaports got bitten by the plastic bug early in his career, when he was importing and exporting semi-finished goods and plastic waste and not surprisingly, developed the thing for it. He continued with his work on plastic commodities, focusing on the huge African market. The more he worked, the more he was aware of how bad the plastic waste problem is, and In need of something innovative to close the loop. Then 2017 happened. He met his current Dgrade partner Kris Barber, and it was gravy. DGrade develops fabrics and finished clothing, using their Greenspun™️ yarns made from recycled plastic bottles! Via their CSR campaign #SIMPLYBOTTLES they raise the awareness of plastic recycling in the UAE and hopefully the whole GCC soon. In the podcast Jeroen talks about the challenges and opportunities of (plastic) recycling in the Middle East and their unique sustainable model of converting plastic bottles to sustainable textile products! Don’t miss out on our comparisons of Jeroen to a certain Joe Rogan