Catching waves and plastic waste: turning watersports into sustainable missions
Designed by Daniel Bertollo, Simone Centonze, and Michele Martelloni – three design graduates from IED Milan – Hauki lets surfers and paddlers clean the oceans simply by doing what they love.
Water sports enthusiasts around the world could soon become environmental heroes, thanks to Hauki, an innovative system that transforms board sports into active microplastic cleanup efforts. The project emerges from three design graduates from IED Milan – Daniel Bertollo, Simone Centonze, and Michele Martelloni – who have recently earned recognition at the prestigious iF Design Student Award 2025, receiving both the main award as well as a special prize from Grohe.
Gallery
Open full width
Open full width
Hauki is a modular system that tackles the mounting crisis of microplastic pollution in water bodies, but with a twist. Instead of turning to industrial-scale infrastructure or niche activism, the designers embedded their solution directly into leisure activities. Surfing, kayaking, paddleboarding, and more can now become active environmental conservation efforts.
The project’s core innovation lies in its plug-in system, designed for easy integration with stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), canoes, and surfboards. Lying under the boards, the device captures microplastics as the athlete travels. The system is made of two main components that work together harmoniously to address both environmental and user experience concerns.
A filtering section features a front-facing 5mm mesh net that captures larger debris, while channelling microplastics towards a 330 micrometer filter. The pollutants then accumulate in a final capsule, equipped with interchangeable filters, ensuring continuous operation and easy maintenance. Complementing the filtration system is a propulsion section powered by a 500 W motor that provides assisted thrust. This addition enhances the user’s water experience while compensating for any drag created by the obstruction of the device.
Setting the product apart is its ability to transform sports enthusiasts into citizen scientists, giving them agency and power to protect the natural spaces they love the most. Users can actively contribute to microplastic collection and mapping during their time in the water. The system enables collected samples to be sent to local research centres, with data uploaded to a comprehensive mapping platform that tracks pollution patterns across different environments. This crowd-sourced approach to environmental monitoring could potentially revolutionise how we understand and combat microplastic pollution by creating a vast network of decentralised users contributing to larger scientific research.
The iF‘s international jury praised the concept’s comprehensive approach to a critical environmental issue, stating, “This smart solution combines filtration with water sports, also addressing the drag problem through a propulsion system. The use of recycled materials further strengthens the project’s ecological credentials.” The award represents one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for students and young designers, distributing a total prize pool of €50,000 to the best projects.
The success of this project signals a paradigm shift in how young designers approach environmental challenges, demonstrating that sustainability doesn’t have to require sacrifice or important lifestyle changes. Instead, by transforming everyday leisure into meaningful action, Hauki adds value to its users’ habits. As microplastic pollution continues to threaten marine ecosystems worldwide, innovations like this offer hope that the next generation of designers will lead the charge towards a more sustainable future.
