Germana Carillo Marine cleanup mission in Croatia recovers 70m² of ghost nets with athlete Andy Donaldson, transforming ocean waste into sustainable ECONYL® swimwear through circular economy
Searching for waste and ghost nets, spending a morning untangling them to rescue even the smallest animals trapped inside, the awareness that something concrete can definitely be done. You just have to try. That’s why we immediately responded to arena’s call to participate in a splendid marine cleanup mission in Croatia (the first of four international cleanup activities for 2025), in collaboration with the environmental organization Healthy Seas.
Roll up your sleeves, then! On May 24th, we embarked toward the Rasa fjord, an ecologically significant area on the Istrian coast of Croatia. Crystal clear and cold sea, the smell of salt air, the first summer sun and a single objective: collect as many nets as possible!
After missions in Sicily, Germany and the United States with athletes like Gregorio Paltrinieri, Florian Wellbrock and Drew Kibler, this stop in Istria saw the participation of Andy Donaldson, arena ambassador and the first athlete to have completed the Ocean’s Seven feat in a single year.
Andy brings with him a profound vision: water as a tool for healing and awareness. His personal commitment against depression has indeed become deeply intertwined with ocean protection and seabed cleanup, making every dive a gesture full of meaning:
“Seeing with my own eyes the extent of the waste and meeting people who are working to protect them was extremely stimulating,” he told us in Croatia, emphasizing how deeply this experience touched him.
His relationship with the ocean is visceral: the sea is his natural environment, a place where he has spent endless hours, swimming, exploring, and also confronting the sad reality of marine waste.
The marine cleanup mission
An initiative, the one we participated in in Croatia, that is not just a matter of cleaning, but an example of a commitment that goes well beyond.
The heart of the mission was the recovery of ghost nets, one of the most dangerous threats to the marine ecosystem.
With the help of volunteer divers from the Ghost Diving Adriatic Team, we were able to recover a 70 square meter (753 square feet) fishing net, a fish cage, a smaller net of about 10 square meters (108 square feet) and several ropes trapped in the nets.
- 70 m² (753 sq ft) of ghost net
- 1 large abandoned fish cage
- 10 meters (33 feet) of additional net
- countless longlines tangled in the nets
Every piece recovered represents one more step toward protecting an increasingly endangered environment.
From abandoned nets to swimsuits
Behind every recovered object there is also a wonderful recovery story: the journey of the recovered nets doesn’t end at the port. When they are made of nylon, the fishing nets collected by Healthy Seas are carefully selected and sent to partner Aquafil, where they are combined with other types of discarded nylon waste, such as old carpets and fabric scraps, and regenerated into ECONYL® yarn. This innovative process creates high-quality nylon with the same properties as virgin material, supporting a circular economy and giving new life to materials that would otherwise pollute the planet.
ECONYL® Regeneration System is a process (introduced by the Aquafil group in 2011), which allows the production of nylon thread suitable for clothing from the regeneration of waste, such as textile scraps or abandoned fishing nets.
The ECONYL® nylon thread maintains the same quality as normal thread, but thanks to its particular production it acquires an added value: that of being totally “green” and therefore making the products in which it is used sustainable as well.
The arena ST NEXT models, for example, are made with ECONYL® and, by supporting Healthy Seas, contribute to the recovery of disused fishing nets from the sea which, together with other nylon waste such as carpets and industrial plastic, are transformed (those suitable for recycling) into ECONYL® thread.
60% of the yarns used in the fabric composition come from pre and post-consumer waste materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. With the improved fabric structure that makes the ST NEXT 20% lighter, reinforced straps and improved fabric elasticity ensure that the ST NEXT is both comfortable and compressive.
Meanwhile, this mission in Croatia was extraordinary, representing much more than concrete action for the environment. It was a community experience, a meeting of people who believe in a cleaner world and who, together, make a difference. An important step to raise awareness about the importance of acting concretely in favor of the oceans, with the objective of transmitting a clear and strong message: every gesture counts, every small action leads to change.
