7 Steps into the future: 1

© Method Products Inc

Ocean plastics

While the scope of the problem of plastics in the ocean is huge, the San Francisco company Method – manufacturer of ecoconscious cleaning products – has collaborated with plastics recycling company Envision to develop a bottle that is ‘up-cycled’ from plastic waste gathered by beach clean-up organizations – particularly in Hawaii, at the southern edge of the North Pacific Gyre. Called Ocean PCR, the material comprises 25 per cent Gyre plastic and 75 per cent recycled polyethylene, and in quality matches virgin high-density polyethylene (hdpe) – the type of plastic most often used for milk containers, shampoo bottles and so on. Ocean PCR itself can be recycled indefinitely when blended with hdpe. It doesn’t keep plastics out of the ocean, but if this innovation catches on, we could someday recycle and reuse all the plastic that already exists rather than creating more.

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