The Ocean Cleanup, the Netherlands-based effort to collect marine plastics from the Pacific Ocean's "garbage patch," makes a lot of news with the large amount of material it has managed to scoop up and bring to shore for recycling.
But how to use that material once it arrives on land is a far more complicated story.
Jamie Butters, executive editor of our sister paper Automotive News, recently attended a press event in San Francisco with executives from The Ocean Cleanup who are preparing for an upcoming collaboration with carmaker Kia. Kia will use material recovered by The Ocean Cleanup for an unspecified "accessory" for its upcoming EVC electric crossover vehicle.
Kia has used bio-based and recycled plastics in past projects, but those plastics came from standard recycled material, not ocean plastics. Materials collected from the ocean are a mishmash of resins that have deteriorated and been damaged by exposure to salt water and the sun.
"Having been on one of the Ocean Cleanup boats, I can attest that the garbage really stinks. And the crew says it's a lot worse when the trash is freshly dumped onto the deck for sorting," he writes. "The hard plastics from the Pacific are salty and stinky and harder to recycle than the stuff collected at curbside. And the ropes and nets from fishing boats are harder still to reuse."
So anything collected requires a lot of money to convert into usable plastics. One Ocean Cleanup executive estimated it can cost twice as much for recycled resin it collected vs. virgin plastics.
Kia's use of The Ocean Cleanup plastics will likely provide a good test case on whether consumers and companies are willing to pay more to help reduce marine plastics, which will in turn finance future projects.