Below is our recent interview with Jonathan Marshall from 4ocean:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to your company?
A: 4ocean is an ocean cleanup company based in Boca Raton, FL, that’s dedicated to ending the ocean plastic crisis. As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp, they harness the power of business to fund a global cleanup operation that recovers millions of pounds of plastic and other debris from the world’s oceans, rivers, and coastlines each year.
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Q: Any highlights on your recent announcement?
A: This announcement marks the first ever food brand to partner with 4ocean to achieve Plastic Neutral Product Certification. Over the next two years, GoodPop will offset its plastic footprint by purchasing one 4ocean Plastic Offset Credit for every pound of plastic used in its packaging. 4ocean will then remove one pound of plastic waste from the ocean for each credit purchased by GoodPop. Together, they will pull half a million pounds of plastic from the ocean based on GoodPop’s offset.
Approximately 36% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, including single-use plastic products for food and beverage containers—85% of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste. As GoodPop is the leading frozen treat brand that exists to do good in the world, this will have a direct impact on alleviating the ocean plastic crisis, as well as educate consumers on the role of plastics in their own lives.
Q: What can we expect from your company in the next 6 months? What are your plans?
A: “We’ve been working hard to streamline our cleanup operations and reach better economies of scale, so you can expect to see a lot of exciting things from 4ocean in the next six months. For instance, I fully expect us to break the world record for the most pounds of trash recovered from the ocean by a single organization,” says Alex Schulze, co-founder and CEO of 4ocean. “We’ll announce a game-changing partnership with an iconic brand that will expand our cleanup operations in Guatemala. We’ll begin testing new equipment that has the potential to prevent millions of pounds of plastic from entering our oceans. We’ll continue to work with brands to help them find more sustainable ways of doing business through our Corporate Partnerships Program and support consumers who are frustrated by the amount of single-use plastic they come into contact with every day through our Plastic Offset Program.”
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Q: What is the best thing about your company that people might not know about?
A: Both GoodPop and 4ocean are Certified B Corps! B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.