How Ocean-Bound Plastic is Reimagining Products of the future
The Problem with Plastic
There is no denying that the stats are shocking. Every year, 90 billion tonnes of primary materials including crude oil, natural gas and coal, are extracted from the earth to keep up with the exponentially increasing demand for plastic products. However, over 91% of plastic is not recycled. An estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic flows into the world’s Ocean every year, which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the Ocean every minute. And according to CSIRO research, approximately 14 million tonnes of micro-plastics has accumulated on the Ocean floor.
Around 80% of the plastic pollution in our Ocean flows from the land, mainly through nature’s waste conveyor belts that are our rivers.
To put it simply, there is too much plastic being produced and too little of it being recycled.
Plastic is ingested by marine animals who mistake these fragments for food, ultimately putting our marine ecosystem at risk. A risk that filters down to human health as we consume fish and other marine animals.
Yet there is no simple, singular solution to this issue. We need to start seeing plastic as a resource, not a problem. It’s time to look for ways to optimise plastic that will prevent it from ending up in our Ocean and landfills.
Currently, there is little economic value in recovering plastics from the environment. The lack of incentives to capture plastic waste means that when it ends up there, it is likely to stay.
We need a complete system change where multiple innovative solutions address this issue that can collectively carve out a pathway to a near-zero plastic pollution world.
Conversely, the demand for recycled plastic is growing as brands try to catch up to their sustainability commitments. Consumers are also increasingly aware of the importance of using recycled plastic with 1 in 2 adults expecting plastic to be made from 100% recycled materials by 2030.
Can Ocean-bound plastic be one of those solutions?
Ocean-Bound Plastic is plastic waste that exists as pollution in the environment and is bound to eventually end up in the Ocean. It is usually collected from rivers and other waterways within 50km of the coastline. Very often these communities have no formal waste management system. Capturing Ocean-bound plastic before it becomes Ocean plastic is a direct and effective way to limit the damage our Ocean is suffering.
What Happens to the Ocean-Bound Plastic once it is Collected?
Vancouver-based Plastic Bank says it has stopped 1 billion plastic bottles from entering and polluting the world’s Ocean. The global organisation works in partnership with over 17,000 individual collectors across Haiti, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and Egypt to collect plastic and in exchange the collectors receive premiums that help provide basic necessities like groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition and even health insurance.
The material collected in this closed-loop recycling ecosystem is turned into ‘Social Plastic’ — a resource that acts as a tradable commodity that goes back into the global manufacturing supply chain to create new products and packaging materials. “[Social Plastic] is a significant milestone that is evidence of our ability to make deliberate environmental, social and economic impact,” says David Katz, founder and CEO of Plastic Bank.
Ocean-Bound Plastic’s benefits could be considered to be two-fold:
1. By using Ocean-bound plastic to create new products and packaging, it supports a regenerative plastics economy that stops plastic from polluting the Ocean.
2. The system provides a source of income and helps to improve the lives of collector communities.
As with any tech, there are challenges to overcome. Unlike other recycled plastics, ocean-bound plastic needs to show the source of where the plastic is coming from and how it is being routed through the supply chain. The logistical difficulties that often face the suppliers in developing countries means there is a lack of infrastructure in the supply countries in order to produce the material at a large enough scale to make it cost-effective. This can be a barrier for manufacturers. However the road is an optimistic one, albeit it bumpy.
Innovative Products providing Alternatives to our Essential Daily Products
From clothing and accessories to furniture, household goods and other daily items, the options to choose sustainably sourced goods made from ocean-bound plastic is on the increase.
Can a Credit Card make a dent in our Plastic Pollution Debt?
Unifimoney announced that their Visa Card will be made from recovered Ocean-bound plastic to offer consumers the choice to reduce first-use plastic with a more sustainable payment option. “Credit cards are no longer something that one aspires to and earns the right to use as they were from the 1950s into the 1990s. They are now everyday tools, and consumers want cards that work for them rather than having to work for the card.”
In December 2018, it was estimated that 20.48 billion credit, debit and prepaid cards were in circulation.
Even though an ocean-bound credit card can initially seem like a purposeful but small step, as we always say at Ocean Generation, it is compounded small actions made automatically everyday that collectively make meaningful impact.
P&G is Reimagining the World of Women’s Skincare
P&G’s Venus brand is the first hair removal brand for women that has innovated a re-usable razor handle made from ocean-bound plastic. The Deep Blue handle is made from 40% post-consumer recycled (PCR) ocean-bound plastic that has been intercepted from streams, rivers and waterways headed towards the ocean, and up-cycled to create something new. The ocean-bound plastic used to create the Deep Blue handle is recovered through Venus’ global partnership with Plastic Bank from waterways in countries without fully developed waste collection infrastructures, such as Indonesia and Philippines. Based on estimated shipment volumes, Venus estimates it will be able to eliminate a total of 2,600kgs of virgin plastic (three metric tons) — the equivalent of 272,000 water bottles.
“We’re proud to continue to strengthen our efforts when it comes to ensuring we all reduce our impact on the planet and ocean. However, we can’t do it alone and partnerships are so important in making collective progress,” says Olivia Hughes, Senior Communications Manager, Venus.
At this stage, the challenge for brands is to source the ocean-bound plastic materials that live up to the standards and quantities they need to move swiftly and fully to using ocean-bound plastic. There is still a long way to go in the process, but it’s this kind of rebuilding and rethinking that can help us develop a new post-pandemic, more sustainable world.
