RiverRecycle
RiverRecycle cleans heavily polluted rivers and pays for the work by turning the plastic it collects into boards for building. It was named to the Top 10 in the World by 100 Projects in 100 Countries and has presented at the Environmental Xperience at EarthX.
- Founded
- 2019, Helsinki, by Anssi Mikola
- Leadership
- Anssi Mikola, founder and CEO
- Works in
- Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Ghana; proposed for the Tijuana River, Mexico
- Recognition
- Top 10 in the World, 100 Projects in 100 Countries
- Website
- riverrecycle.com
What they do
Anssi Mikola, an engineer and serial entrepreneur, had the idea in June 2018 after reading that most plastic in the ocean arrives through about a thousand rivers, and founded RiverRecycle the following year. His aim was a river cleaning service that local governments could have without paying for it forever. The model works in three phases:
- Clean the river. Booms and river cleaning systems stop floating plastic and debris before it reaches the sea.
- Recycle what is caught. A recycling plant nearby turns flexible packaging and other plastics that are usually worthless into RiverRecycle boards, which can replace plywood for formwork, shelters, schools, canteens and furniture. Selling the boards pays for the cleaning.
- Move collection onto land. Over time, collection shifts to neighbourhoods so less plastic reaches the river at all.
Every site creates safe, paid jobs for people living along the river. Projects include the Citarum in Indonesia, the Pasig in Manila with support from the ICTSI Foundation, the Mithi in Mumbai, and an agreement signed in May 2025 with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry to make Cebu the first Philippine city with zero plastic emissions to the ocean.
At the Environmental Xperience at EarthX
Founder and CEO Anssi Mikola and Marko Kärkkäinen, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, presented how RiverRecycle cleans rivers, recycles the waste into products and creates community jobs during the Rotary programme at the Environmental Xperience at EarthX in Dallas.
Anssi Mikola
Founder and CEO, RiverRecycle
Engineer and serial entrepreneur with 30 years in international business, who founded RiverRecycle in Helsinki in 2019 to make river cleaning pay for itself.
Marko Kärkkäinen
Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, RiverRecycle
Works on plastic pollution solutions and leads RiverRecycle’s partnership with Rotary, including the Tijuana River global grant proposals with the Rotary Club of Newport Beach.
100 Projects in 100 Countries: Top 10 in the World
RiverRecycle is #10 in the Top 10 in the World, honored for river-based plastic interception and recycling in the Philippines and Indonesia that turns waste from rivers like the Pasig into reusable material and local jobs.
A Rotary opportunity: the Tijuana River
The Rotary Club of Newport Beach (District 5320) has listed two Rotary Global Grant proposals for a RiverRecycle project on the Tijuana River, which flows into a protected US estuary and the Pacific. The plan starts with feasibility studies and the first collection booms, then adds sorting, washing and board production, with an estimated total investment of about US$1.35 million. Both proposals are open for partner clubs to pledge support, with Marko Kärkkäinen of RiverRecycle as the primary contact.
- Global Grant G-3947: Tijuana River Cleaning
- Global Grant G-3935: Tijuana River Project
- Global Grant G-3974: Recycled Plastic Boards Mexico
- Global Grant G-3772: River Cleaning, Motagua River, Guatemala
See all plastic-related Rotary projects on our Rotary page.