Our name: Reelease
Reelease [ri-lees] comes from a synthetic word that combines reel and ease. The word reel frequently appears in the shipping industry as mooring ropes are wrapped around one.
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Mooring ropes, threads and filaments are all wrapped on a reel, combined with the ease of the process. In other words we release plastic from the ropes and repurpose it.
As some of us are coming from a background in the shipping industry, we appreciate that all sea-going operations have a generic problem concerning the disposal of ropes once they need replacing. Instead of creating a burgeoning pile of old ropes destined for carbon-intensive disposal by incineration or landfill, we aim to extract the plastic constituents of the ropes in an environmentally friendly way and repurpose them for use in future products. With the recycled plastic we can create new products using technologies such as 3D printing or injection molding. Cutting edge R&D will play an important role, with industry and educational tie-ups to maximise the innovative ways that plastic ropes can be Reeleased back to the community for a more sustainable future. We aim to minimize the carbon footprint resulting from the disposal of mooring ropes and create a green incentive in favour of the process and to lead the marine industry forward to an eco-friendly future.
Our vision
Our Philosophy
"To prevent unnecessary waste by smart repurposing of expired products with environmentally-friendly recycling and manufacturing technologies."
Meet the Founding Team
Dimitris graduated as a Mechanical Engineer and holds a MSc in Materials Science and Technology from the National Technical University of Athens. Dimitris is also the author of seven articles related to nanostructured materials and mechanical properties of same. Working in the technical department of Samos Steamship Co. for more than 11 years, Dimitris has gained a lot of experience with specialisation in repairs and retrofit projects.
Dimitris Skarakis
Fragkiskos, while working as the Information Technology and Communications manager at Samos Steamship Co. decided to share his “wisdom” with the younger members of Reelease as he is an ardent supporter of technology, environment and sea. He loves exchanging ideas, thinking out of the box and correlating skills and practices. He joined Reelease, driven by his commitment to minimise environmental footprint, by recycling and repurposing marine waste. His vision is to set the best practices on how wastes from maritime industry should be handled.
Fragkiskos Nikolakis
Demi founded Reelease while working at Samos Steamship Co. by combining her professional shipping experience and entrepreneurial spirit. She returned to Greece after graduating from King's College London (BSc degree in Psychology) with a desire to pursue a whole different career. Fuelled by her motivation to make an environmental change in the shipping industry, Demi set herself in the forefront of creating a revolutionary method of upcycling marine waste.
Demi Inglessis
Chris specialises in marine engineering and maritime advisory. Regarding previous work experience, Chris has worked for various shipping companies in the technical department, as well as in PwC Greece in the maritime advisory department. Chris holds a BEng in Marine Technology with honors in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, UK, as well as a MSc in Shipping, Trade & Finance from Cass Business school, London, UK
Chris Lorentzos
Milton is a mechanical and robotics engineer with previous experience in the environmental monitoring and maritime technology sectors. With further experience in autonomous systems and machine learning he is optimistic that today's problems can be solved with careful, intellectual and sustainable design around cutting-edge technology. Milton holds a BEng degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Sussex, UK and a MSc in Computer Vision, Robotics & Machine Learning from the University of Surrey, UK.