Nets for Net Zero

What Nets for Net Zero does

Nets for Net Zero is a Canadian not-for-profit organization founded in 2021 and headquartered in Montreal that addresses abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) - a category of marine plastic litter representing roughly 10% of marine debris. Its core service is a proprietary recycling pipeline developed with the Department of Chemical Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal, which converts hard-to-recycle marine fishing gear into recycled HDPE pellets suitable for injection molding and 3D printing applications. Operational capabilities are anchored by a digital track-and-trace system and a comprehensive Life Cycle Analysis co-developed with CIRAIG to provide verified environmental impact data across the value chain, from port collection to finished pellets. The organization supplements the recycling service with two other paid offerings: Net Zero Consulting services delivered to organizations and governments seeking to develop circular systems, and a 9-month Open Innovation Program cohort-based accelerator for manufacturers across Nova Scotia and Eastern Canada, priced at $5,000 CAD per participant and valued at $30,000 CAD, which provides training, coaching, prototyping facilities, and 100kg of recycled HDPE per cohort member. Revenue derives from donations (where $1 CAD removes 1kg of ghost gear), consulting fees, recycled material supply, and Open Innovation Program tuition. The organization's footprint spans Canada's coasts, with an international beach cleanup pilot in Calicut, India launched in partnership with Green Worms on World Ocean Day 2024 (collecting 250kg of low-value plastics and 140kg of fishing nets), and a stated 2024 production capacity target of 5,000 tonnes of ALDFG.

Name

Nets for Net Zero

Legal name

Nets for Net Zero

Website

https://netsfornetzero.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Nets for Net Zero is a Montreal-based Canadian not-for-profit that recycles abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear into recycled HDPE pellets for manufacturers, while providing sustainability consulting and a 9-month Open Innovation Program for Eastern Canadian manufacturers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Plastic Recycling Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

SIC

Plastics Products, Nec (3089), Miscellaneous Plastics Products (3080)

akta.pro primary industry

Rigid Plastics Recycling (HDPE/PP, Injection/Blow Molded) (EUAIAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Plastic & Rubber Recycling, Reprocessing & Pelletizing (IMANAOAN), Plastic Recycling Equipment & Technology Providers (Sorting, Washing, Extrusion) (EUAIAKAM), Post-Consumer Plastic Collection & Sorting (MRF/PRF, Bale Supply) (EUAIAKAA)

Keywords

• Ghost gear recycling
• Fishing gear recovery
• Marine plastic recycling
• Circular economy consulting
• Ocean plastic solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: As a Canadian Not for Profit organization, donations form a key revenue stream. Every dollar donated allows removal of 1KG of ghost fishing gear. They are not a registered charity but have begun the process to receive this status.
2. Consulting Services: Sustainability consulting services provided to organizations and governments to assist in reducing carbon emissions, building circular systems, and innovating for a net positive future. Services include impact analysis and reporting tools, and developing circular system partners.
3. Open Innovation Program: A 9-month program costing $5,000 CAD (valued at $30,000 CAD) that unites manufacturers, researchers, and communities to transform discarded fishing gear into innovative products. Includes monthly seminars, coaching, testing facilities, recycled materials, and impact assessment.
4. Recycled Materials Supply: Supplying recycled HDPE from fishing gear to manufacturers for product development. The organization provides recycled materials with verified impact reports to help companies reduce emissions in products while maintaining quality standards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Nets for Net Zero collects and recycles abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG/ghost gear) into recycled HDPE pellets usable in injection molding and 3D printing, working with fishing companies, harbor authorities, recyclers, manufacturers, and governments. It supplements this core recycling operation with sustainability consulting services to help organizations reduce carbon emissions and build circular systems, plus a 9-month Open Innovation Program that supplies manufacturers with recycled materials, prototyping support, and coaching to commercialize products made from recycled fishing gear.

Product overview

Nets for Net Zero offers three interconnected services focused on circular economies for ghost fishing gear. The Circular Plastics service provides research and recycling technology to transform abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) into recycled HDPE pellets suitable for manufacturing. The Net Zero Consulting Services assists organizations and governments in adopting circular systems and reducing plastic footprints. The Open Innovation Program is a 9-month accelerator that connects manufacturers with researchers and communities to prototype and commercialize products made from recycled fishing gear. Together, these services form a complete circular value chain from ghost gear collection to market-ready products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Circular Plastics A recycling service that transforms abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG/ghost gear) into recycled HDPE pellets suitable for manufacturing plastic products via injection molding and 3D printing. It addresses materials that cannot be recycled globally and supplies manufacturers with verified-impact recycled feedstock.
• Net Zero Consulting Services
• Open Innovation Program A 9-month cohort-based program for manufacturers across Eastern Canada that provides training, coaching, prototyping support, and recycled HDPE materials to develop commercial products from abandoned fishing gear, with a culminating pitch event.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.6 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided per tonne of fishing gear recycled
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Green WormscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 June 2024Partnership with Green Worms, a Circular Economy Transition Company operating in Kerala, India. Together they launched a beach cleanup project at Calicut Beach on World Ocean Day 2024, collecting 250kg of Low Value Plastics and 140kg of fishing nets.
• Fundy North Fishermen's AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022First project with Fundy North Fishermen's Association to convert fishing rope into clean energy and finance research with Polytechnique Montreal. Goal was approximately 12 tonnes of rope diverted from landfill by March 2022.
• Polytechnique MontréalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership with the Department of Chemical Engineering. The research team has pioneered circular solutions for ghost fishing gear, developing processes for materials that cannot be recycled globally. They turn challenging materials into recycled pellets for injection molding and 3D printing.
• CIRAIGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the International Reference Center for Life Cycle Assessment and Sustainable Transition for developing digital track and trace systems and conducting lifecycle analysis of their Canadian recycling system to eliminate greenwashing.
• Ocean LegacyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Ocean Legacy, a Canadian non-profit based in British Columbia dedicated to ending ocean plastic waste. They work with scientists, government, non-profits, artists, industries and concerned citizens.
• Canada's Ocean SuperclusterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Canada's Ocean Supercluster that accelerates the development and commercialization of made-in-Canada ocean solutions in energy transition, food security, future of transport, and climate change.
• Green MarineminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Green Marine, an environmental certification program for the North American marine industry addressing key environmental issues through 14 performance indicators.
• Whale SeekerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Whale Seeker, a Montreal-based startup and certified B Corporation leveraging AI to simplify whale monitoring. Founded in 2018, bridging profitability and sustainability.
• GarwareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Garware, a leading global player in technical textiles sector known for high-performance aquaculture cage nets, fishing nets, sports nets, safety nets, and synthetic ropes.
• Friends of United Nations World Oceans DayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with FOWOD, an informal community of individuals and organizations active in ocean affairs supporting United Nations World Oceans Day.
• Fishing Gear Coalition of Atlantic Canada (FGCAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with FGCAC composed of members from industry, government, Indigenous communities, academia, and the public working together to develop sustainable solutions for end-of-life and abandoned fishing gear.
• eOceansminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with eOceans enabling collaborative, transparent and real-time ocean monitoring. The App automates manual processes of ocean science for study design, ocean exploring, and decision making.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ocean Conservancy: Major U.S. ocean advocacy NGO that runs the International Coastal Cleanup and co-convenes the Global Ghost Gear Initiative. Comparable to Nets for Net Zero in mission around marine debris and ghost gear, but operates as a broad advocacy/policy incumbent rather than a recycler; relevant for ecosystem and policy positioning.
• TerraCycle: Global waste-management company specializing in hard-to-recycle materials through branded recycling programs and partnerships with consumer-goods companies. Comparable because it tackles difficult-to-recycle plastics at scale and sells recycled feedstock to manufacturers, though it is a much larger broad incumbent rather than an ALDFG specialist.
• Aquafil (ECONYL): Italian textile company producing ECONYL regenerated nylon made from pre- and post-consumer waste including fishing nets. Comparable because it industrializes the conversion of fishing gear into a recycled input used by consumer brands, but at significantly larger scale and broader product scope than Nets for Net Zero.

Direct peers

• Greenworms: Kerala, India-based circular economy company that runs beach cleanups and recovers low-value plastics and fishing nets, including a documented partnership with Nets for Net Zero in Calicut. Directly comparable as an emerging player operating the same collection-and-supply model in the same vertical, with overlap as both a partner and peer in the ALDFG supply chain.
• Bureo: California-based company that collects end-of-life fishing nets and recycles them into NetPlus raw material used in products such as skateboards, sunglasses, and surfboard fins. Directly comparable because it focuses specifically on fishing-gear recycling into consumer-ready plastic products, mirroring Nets for Net Zero's ALDFG-to-HDPE pellet model.
• Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI): Cross-sectoral alliance convened by Ocean Conservancy and WWF focused on preventing and remediating abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear worldwide. Directly comparable mission and target issue (ALDFG), though it operates as a convening and advocacy body rather than a recycler; relevant as a peer because it shapes policy and partnerships Nets for Net Zero engages with.
• Seaqual Initiative: Spain-based initiative that recovers marine litter, including fishing gear, and transforms it into SEAQUAL Yarn and other recycled materials for textile and plastics manufacturers. Directly comparable because it tackles the same ALDFG-to-recycled-material value chain and sells verified recycled content to consumer goods manufacturers.
• Plastic Bank: Social enterprise that builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and converts recovered ocean-bound plastic into Social Plastic feedstock for brands. Directly comparable to Nets for Net Zero as a mission-driven organization that monetizes recovered ocean plastic through partnerships with manufacturers while providing verified impact to buyers.
• Ocean Legacy: Canadian non-profit dedicated to ending ocean plastic waste, working with scientists, government, industry, and citizens. Directly comparable to Nets for Net Zero because both operate as Canadian marine-plastic circular-economy organizations that recover, process, and recycle coastal and ocean plastic into reusable materials.

Emerging players

• Plastics for Change: Social enterprise that sources ocean- and landfill-bound plastic from coastal waste pickers and supplies verified recycled plastic to FMCG brands. Comparable emerging player that intersects with Nets for Net Zero on the supply of recovered marine plastic into manufacturer supply chains, though focused on general ocean-bound plastic rather than ALDFG specifically.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NetsForNetZero
• Instagraminstagram.com/netsfornetzero
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/netsfornetzero

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nets for Net Zero