Ecover, a multinational cleaning products manufacturer, recently announced a partnership with Closed Loop Recycling to collect plastic waste from the ocean and recycle it into cleaning product bottles, fulfilling its self-declared green commitment.
Ecover states that the plastic waste from the ocean will be collected by European fishermen and then sent to Closed Loop Recycling's factory in London, where it will be recycled into new packaging bottles, which are expected to be available in 2014.
Closed Loop Recycling stated that, in addition to recycling ocean plastic waste, the company and Ecover are also working to develop new technologies to try blending recycled ocean plastic pellets with post-consumer recycled rHDPE and sugarcane.
Ecover's ocean plastic bottles originated from the EU's Waste Free Oceans (WFO) initiative, launched by EU politicians, the plastics industry, and non-profit organizations to reduce plastic waste floating in the ocean and encourage recycling. WFO has developed a special trawl net that can collect 2 to 8 tons of marine debris per voyage. After cleaning and sorting, the debris becomes raw material for recycled plastic pellets.
Starting in late 2012, cleaning product manufacturer Method and plastic flooring manufacturer Interface both invested in technologies for recycling and reusing marine plastic waste. Coincidentally, they both mixed marine plastic granules with post-consumer recycled plastics to create new products. Interface even announced in January of this year that it would recycle discarded fishing nets to make plastic carpets.
Scientists estimate that millions of tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year, causing not only environmental pollution but also harming marine life. Recycling plastic waste and generating it into particles can reduce pollution of the ocean and the environment, and also reduce the consumption of limited resources.
Sources: Environmental Leader (March 7, 2013) (Compiled by PIDC)
