Oilsorb (Türkiye) | Wool-based ocean oil absorption solution

We’ve all seen news footage of oil spill disasters. They are one of the most visceral reminders of the harm that can be caused by pollution, often characterized by vast oil slicks and seabirds covered in oil. Oil spills are a disaster that are notoriously hard to address, due to the difficulty involved in cleaning them up. But what if there was an easier way to clean up oil, one that was hiding right in front of us all along, and didn’t require the production of synthetic materials? We don’t have to imagine, because Turkish students İrem Erden, Ece Deniz Sayar, Ela Aksoy, and Meryem Melis Çınar have figured it out with their solution, Oilsorb. For its natural, sustainable, and cost-effective approach to oil spill cleanup, Oilsorb has earned the team the honor of being named Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Ambassadors.

A Natural, Sustainable Way to Clean Oil Spills

Being from a coastal town in Türkiye, İrem, Ece Deniz, Ela, and Meryem Melis see ocean pollution not as an abstraction, but as a real-life concern. They know how pollution can damage marine ecosystems and negatively affect fisheries and tourism, ultimately hurting the local economy and people in coastal communities. They saw that oil spills are generally underreported and, because of this, that they are not adequately addressed. Wanting to help their local environment and their community, they decided to pursue a solution to this problem.

Then, inspiration struck. While watching a news report about an oil spill in Thailand, the team saw that people there were using matted human hair to absorb the spilled oil, and that it was surprisingly effective. The team realized that scientifically complex, synthetic materials were not needed for an oil spill solution. They quickly found, however, that there are obvious sourcing and scaling issues that exist with human hair as a material, so they settled on something even better: sheep’s wool.

Wool brought a number of key benefits to Oilsorb. It is highly abundant, is often discarded for not being up to standard in the textile industry, and can absorb up to 12 times its weight in oil. This made it an effective, sustainable, and easily sourced choice for the project.

Once the team knew what its central material would be, everything else fell into place relatively quickly. The Oilsorb system has a floatable frame that stays on the surface of the water, and inside it are replaceable pads made of wool that absorb oil, but not water. Once the pads are saturated, they are removed, cleaned, and reused. This makes Oilsorb a practical, sustainable, and cost-effective solution for cleaning up oil spills.

However, the project has not been without challenges, as the team states that affordability and scalability have been an issue in the development process. They have been seeking a balance between impact, usability, and financial viability but thankfully, this is where Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has come into play.

From Idea to Scalable Reality

When the team brought Oilsorb to Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, it had been an idea rather than a ready-to-implement project. At the competition, however, the team learned how to bring their idea to reality through a process that consisted of continuous feedback that taught them how to improve their design and clearly communicate the impact that the project was meant to make. They learned the steps necessary to make Oilsorb a real-world application, thinking beyond the steps of the solution itself to consider the solution’s target consumer base, the market size, and the long-term feasibility of the project. Now, thanks to what they have learned at Solve for Tomorrow, the team has made Oilsorb into something that is not just environmentally impactful, but realistic and scalable.

The Path to a Global Oil Spill Cleanup Standard

Going forward, the team will test Oilsorb in real marine environments and work alongside local and national stakeholders to launch pilot implementations. They’re also looking to extend the spirit of collaboration further to include ports authorities, environmental organizations, and academic institutions to adapt Oilsorb to different regions and conditions. Ultimately, they hope to make Oilsorb the global standard in oil spill cleanup, something that will help local communities, marine ecosystems, port authorities, and oil transport communities access sustainable cleanup products. In the end, the goal remains the same: to reduce pollution while promoting a circular economy.

The team believes that many students their age get hung up on the idea of perfection, which might hold them back before they even start. “You don’t need a perfect solution to start, you need curiosity, empathy, and persistence,” they say. “Real change begins when you notice a problem others overlook and believe that your ideas matter.”

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Ambassadors will be officially appointed at a ceremony held in Milan on Feb. 10-11, in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Find out more about Solve for Tomorrow at [link].