Plastic Soup Surfer

My name is Merijn Tinga, the Plastic Soup Surfer.

In 2014, I built a surfboard using washed-up plastics and surfed it along the Dutch coast, earning my nickname: Plastic Soup Surfer. Since then, I'm focusing my campaigns on policy makers and companies.

My campaigns and expeditions directly led to the introduction of the Dutch deposit scheme - 80% less littered bottles - and have led to product bans. Together with an growing army of passionate people, we continue to influence policy. I share my story to inform, inspire and help others to make a difference too.

Origin story

Oslo-Rome windsurfing for a proven solution

From a plastic bottle on a beach to a private audience with the Pope - the fourth stage of the Plastic Soup Surfer campaign took Merijn Tinga from Monaco to Rome on a 750-kilometre windsurfing expedition.

The journey was physically demanding: changing winds, high waves, rocky coastlines and the constant uncertainty of crossing the Mediterranean made this one of the toughest expeditions since the campaign started in Oslo in 2023.

The mission: promote Deposit Return Systems (DRS) as one of the most effective ways to prevent plastic pollution. After seeing the impact of deposit systems in Scandinavia, we have first spent years campaigning to introduce DRS in the Netherlands - with success - and now continue internationally.

In Rome, this journey led to a private audience with Pope Leo XIV. Following this meeting, the possibility of a DRS in Vatican City is now being explored together with the Vatican.

Follow the campaign on Instagram or support a future expedition via the support page.

Who is Plastic Soup Surfer

Support our cause

We work with a small, close-knit team of volunteers who bring their own specific skills and experience.

To make all are work possible we need support in any way, shape or form. If you want to help out we would like to invite you to have a look at our support page. A small donation can mean a lot for us.

From Oslo to Pope Leo XIV - and Rome

From plastic soup to policy – deposit return as a solution

The finish of the Nice–Rome windsurf expedition was marked by an extraordinary moment. On 21 May in Rome, as the finish to the 750km windsurf expedition - Plastic Soup Surfer Merijn Tinga had a 15 minute private audience with Pope Leo XIV. A symbolic conclusion to a journey that began four years earlier in Oslo.

For more than a decade, Merijn Tinga has travelled Europe’s coastlines and rivers by windsurf and stand-up paddleboard, tracing the path of plastic pollution. From the source of the Rhine to the North Sea, from Oslo to London, Paris, Nice and now Rome, each expedition has carried the same message: deposit-return systems on plastic bottles and cans work.

They reduce littered bottles and cans by 80 percent. We have seen it happen. As a result of our work in the Netherlands, after years of expeditions and campaigns, data, petitions and political pressure we helped turn deposit systems into reality - transforming streets, rivers and public awareness.

This spring’s Nice–Rome expedition was the 4th stage of an expedition that began 4750 km ago in Oslo in 2023. Once again it was a solo journey on the eco-board, incorporating littered plastic bottles this time from the river Tiber, and a clear call for change: Italy can make the same leap. Along the route we called on the communities to start collecting data instead of only litter. To provide evidence in clearcut numbers.

The campaign is not only about Italy. It is about sharing our lessons learned - how to mobilise citizens, collect data and turn awareness into policy. From Oslo to Rome, from the water to the halls of power.

Along the route a private meeting also took place with Prince Albert II of Monaco to discuss how Monaco could a DRS and inspire wider change around the Mediterranean.

This expedition may have ended, but the campaign continues. From beaches to parliaments, from citizens to world leaders: the message remains the same - change starts when someone decides to act.

What you can do!

‘Rifiuti in Vista’: Citizen Science for the Nice–Rome Campaign

For the Nice–Rome expedition we launched Rifiuti in Vista — a citizen-science project using photos to map litter along the Italian coast. Industry resistance in Italy is strong, and reliable data is scarce. That’s where you Italians can make the difference.

It is very easy: Take photos of litter along your walk, ride or beach visit. Our AI identifies the brands, materials and objects, and turns the results into maps and graphs we will use to brief journalists and policymakers throughout the campaign. (AI by Zwerfinator)

Join Rifiuti in Vista. (download the flyer with the instructions. Italian or English)

Surfing & politics

The record attempt crossing that led to deposits and a spectacular decrease in littering.

In 2017, the Plastic Soup Surfer forces a political breakthrough with a resolution he drafted himself. Bottle deposits lead to a major decline in littering. The record attempt kitesurf crossing of the North Sea – 180km from The Netherlands to England, on a board made from plastic bottles – is the kickstart to a petition for bottle deposits, and is signed by 60 thousand people.

How we made DRS happen

Captains of industry

A +1000km SUP expedition on the river Rhine to confront the source of the plastic pollution: the producers

He confronts the CEOs of Coca Cola, Heineken, Pepsico, Spa and Dutch supermarkets using a bailiff and a judicial notice specially developed for this occasion. He takes along the plastic bottles he found in the river Rhine after having paddled it from its source, high up in the Alps down to its murky river mouth (>1000km). A campaign from source to sea and then back upstream to the source of the plastic pollution: The companies.

See all expeditions

Unite the fight

With the Dutch community of plastic activists and NGOs he organized a national conference on the future of plastics (2019). The resulting ‘Plastic Avengers Manifest’ states 5 principles to a ‘sustainable use of plastics’.

VP Frans Timmermans became the ambassador.

Read our vision

Research in Belgium: 5x More Cans and Bottles

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We walked a 6 km research route through Antwerp, Brussels, and Namur. The results were the same everywhere: 4 to 5 times more cans and bottles on the streets compared to the Netherlands – where a deposit system is in place.

Our findings led to parliamentary questions in Wallonia and meetings with Flemish MPs.

In each city, local litter pickers joined us. They’re now starting photo-based research, which can be quickly and smartly analysed using AI.

Interested in doing a litter-research walk every three months? Get in touch!

NEW BOOK: Tegen de stroom in

In stores now

On September 1st, my new book Tegen de stroom in has be released. A personal and urgent story about how to stay courageous and take action through all kinds of weather – quite literally.

ORDER "TEGEN DE STROOM IN" HERE

Against the Current - a movie

Supping and windsurfing from Paris to Nice, short docu by Jasper Strik

During his journey from Paris to Nice - the 3rd stage in his expedition that began in Oslo - Merijn experiences both the adventure and the loneliness of activism. He camps alone, is supported by locals, paddles long distances each day, and encounters plastic pollution everywhere, in parks, along roadsides, and in the water. He explains how much of this waste ends up in public bins and is incinerated, leaving little room for recycling. At the same time, he receives unexpected support from the recycling industry and local authorities.

I am not accusing the material, but the way we put it to use. Plastic is a catalyst to our throw-away society.

Support us!

Will you support us?

Help out in our mission!

Support our work with a small donation
Join our current campaign
Invite the Plastic Soup Surfer for a lecture or advice
Join our team as a volunteer: send us an email