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Lefteris has co-founded Enaleia. Enaleia has created the first fishing school in Greece and 2 wide-scale plastic clean-ups, the Mediterranean Cleanup & Bahari Safi. Lefteris has been appointed Ambassador for the Mediterranean Coast by UNEP-MAP for 2022. He is a graduate of the Athens University of Economics and Business, and was listed in the Greek Forbes 30under30 list of 2020.
UNEP
Lefteris Arapakis - Greek, Europe
2020 Winner | Entrepreneur | Greek
The organization Enaleia created the Mediterranean cleanup. Mediterranean fish stocks have been steadily declining with fisherman pulling up plastic in their nets instead. Using a network of fishermen and ensuring responsible management of the collected waste into the circular economy, Enaleia trains, empowers and incentivizes old and new fishermen to collect plastic from the sea. This allows fish stocks and the ecosystem to recover, while providing a source of income from plastic brought to shore. They are currently removing more than 1.5 tonnes of marine plastic weekly, and 10 tonnes of discarded fishing gear per year.
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NOTE: This content was shared online for the 2019 cycle of the Young Champions of the Earth programme and has not been updated. This listing does not constitute any endorsement by nor status with the UN Environment Programme.
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