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> the organization plans to continue operations with help from the proceeds of recycled plastic. That's not going to work. The proceeds from recycling the plas

> the organization plans to continue operations with help from the proceeds of recycled plastic. That's not going to work. The proceeds from recycling the plastic aren't even going to pay for recycling the plastic.

mreome 8y ago
Worse, they will be paying to recycle (dispose of) it. Right now there are major issues and limitations in the processing of even the generally clean/sorted and re-usable plastics from residential collection. Some recycling facilities are being forced to simply dispose of even these materials as they would any other waste. (https://phys.org/news/2018-07-trash-piles-china-door-recycling.html https://phys.org/news/2018-07-trash-piles-china-door-recycli...) What they are collecting is partially broken down by ocean salts and UV light, and has absorbed contaminants (a lot of these plastics are actually from fishing equipment, but the post-consumer component largely enters the ocean via some exceptionally polluted river systems). These are going to be small and unmarked plastic pieces, you would need spectrographic analysis on each piece to determine the type of plastic before it could be recycled.
skybrian 8y ago
I think the idea might be to sell souvenirs to support the cause, not bulk plastic.
- mreome 8y ago
  That would still be very difficult. You have to know what kind of plastic you have before you can work with it, some plastics off-gas dangerous vapors when cut for example, and they would need to test for chemical contamination before it could be distributed. Also, how many thousands of tones of souvenirs can someone sell? :P
taysic 8y ago
Sometimes people are motivated are pay a premium if they feel the cause is good (it can be marketed on the product). In this case, how much would the difference be?
neals 8y ago
It's a little more thought out than you give them credit. Imagine a pair of lawnchairs made from "ocean cleanup plastic", the idea is that people would pay a large premium for this. It's like a brand that saves the world. I don't think that such a bad idea actually.
- jimnotgym 8y ago
  An example already in circulation are the ocean plastic shoes. I like the idea that ocean plastic goods become fashionable https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/adidas-shoes-made-from-ocean-plastic-are-finally-h/ https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/adidas-shoes-made-f...
  - simonh 8y ago
    Right, it also raises awareness of the problem and puts it in people’s faces. It’s hard to argue pollution isn’t a problem with someone wearing shoes made out of it. Clearly they’re not going to turn all the ocean plastic into flip flops, or anything necessarily, but multiple options do need to be explored. Amazing that nay sayers seem to manage to write off the whole problem with nitpicks at minor or temporary aspects of actual attempts to do something about it. Early attempts at green energy largely failed, often having carbon footprints and costs greater than conventional approaches, but without all that work we’d never tackle the problem. You have to start somewhere.
  - beauzero 8y ago
    It works for carpet. Plastic bottles are pellitized and repulled as carpet fiber that is sold as eco friendly at a premium.
- dwighttk 8y ago
  No, I get it. I'm saying that all those tchotchkes sold at a premium won't even cover the cost of recycling the plastic, much less fund the whole project.

mreome 8y ago

Worse, they will be paying to recycle (dispose of) it. Right now there are major issues and limitations in the processing of even the generally clean/sorted and re-usable plastics from residential collection. Some recycling facilities are being forced to simply dispose of even these materials as they would any other waste. (https://phys.org/news/2018-07-trash-piles-china-door-recycling.html https://phys.org/news/2018-07-trash-piles-china-door-recycli...) What they are collecting is partially broken down by ocean salts and UV light, and has absorbed contaminants (a lot of these plastics are actually from fishing equipment, but the post-consumer component largely enters the ocean via some exceptionally polluted river systems). These are going to be small and unmarked plastic pieces, you would need spectrographic analysis on each piece to determine the type of plastic before it could be recycled.

skybrian 8y ago

I think the idea might be to sell souvenirs to support the cause, not bulk plastic.

mreome 8y ago
That would still be very difficult. You have to know what kind of plastic you have before you can work with it, some plastics off-gas dangerous vapors when cut for example, and they would need to test for chemical contamination before it could be distributed. Also, how many thousands of tones of souvenirs can someone sell? :P

taysic 8y ago

Sometimes people are motivated are pay a premium if they feel the cause is good (it can be marketed on the product). In this case, how much would the difference be?

neals 8y ago

It's a little more thought out than you give them credit. Imagine a pair of lawnchairs made from "ocean cleanup plastic", the idea is that people would pay a large premium for this. It's like a brand that saves the world. I don't think that such a bad idea actually.

jimnotgym 8y ago
An example already in circulation are the ocean plastic shoes. I like the idea that ocean plastic goods become fashionable https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/adidas-shoes-made-from-ocean-plastic-are-finally-h/ https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/adidas-shoes-made-f...
- simonh 8y ago
  Right, it also raises awareness of the problem and puts it in people’s faces. It’s hard to argue pollution isn’t a problem with someone wearing shoes made out of it. Clearly they’re not going to turn all the ocean plastic into flip flops, or anything necessarily, but multiple options do need to be explored. Amazing that nay sayers seem to manage to write off the whole problem with nitpicks at minor or temporary aspects of actual attempts to do something about it. Early attempts at green energy largely failed, often having carbon footprints and costs greater than conventional approaches, but without all that work we’d never tackle the problem. You have to start somewhere.
- beauzero 8y ago
  It works for carpet. Plastic bottles are pellitized and repulled as carpet fiber that is sold as eco friendly at a premium.
dwighttk 8y ago
No, I get it. I'm saying that all those tchotchkes sold at a premium won't even cover the cost of recycling the plastic, much less fund the whole project.