What are the products created using recycled ocean plastic?
- Dresses
- Running Shoes
- Skateboards
- Carpet Tiles
Improper waste disposal is one of the biggest problems the world is facing today. It has negatively affected the marine environment of various maritime animals and plants. This has not only caused coral reefs to die out, but it has also caused the deaths and poor health of various animals that live and rely on the ocean for their nutrition.
As a result, numerous countries have initiated their own clean-up projects that aim to remove this waste from the ocean and dispose of them properly. For a plastic molding company in China, one of the ways that they help dispose of plastic is by recycling them and using that same material for their new products. This has led to the introduction of a new material called recycled ocean plastic, which has been used for a wide variety of products. With this new repurposed material seeing more use in various products, let us know how the process of recycling ocean plastic begins, and how they turn them into products that people can use.
How Ocean Plastic Is Recycled
The first step to recycling plastic in the ocean is by removing them from the water. Various forms of marine life have been negatively impacted by improper waste disposal. Therefore, getting a significant amount of it out from the ocean is a step towards helping them thrive for generations to come. The retrieval of plastic can be conducted by various environmental groups and government agencies, who then transport the plastic into recycling plants and plastic injection molding companies to allow them to re-use the material for their products.
The next step is to classify what materials these ocean plastics are made of and separate them accordingly. This makes for a more unified process that would allow more plastic material to be recycled. Once these have been properly identified and delegated, the next step is to convert these ocean plastics into raw material that can be used for manufacturing products. Along with converting them into plastic pellets that can be used in a molding company in China, recycled ocean plastic can also be converted into other materials, such as cloth-like material that can be used to make fabric.
Products Made from Recycled Ocean Plastic
Recycled ocean plastic has already become a material that’s being used to mass-produce various products for retail purposes. Some of the world’s most popular and recognizable brands, creating their own set of innovative products. Here are some notable products created using recycled ocean plastic.
Dresses
A company called Unifi has been able to craft over thousands of graduation dresses using a thread that was woven from recycled ocean plastic. These dresses have been distributed to thousands of students all over the United States, with some reaching graduates from the country’s top universities. The process involves recycling water bottles (of which Unifi has recycled over 4 billion) and converting them into yarn that can be used to create clothes. Along with garments made from 100 percent recycled ocean plastic, other variations include thread created from fiber waste and one that uses used fabric.
Running Shoes
Adidas, one of the biggest sportswear brands in the world, has been able to craft a shoe that is made out of recycled ocean plastic. The shoe was created in partnership with Parley for the Oceans, an environmentalist group that aims to raise awareness about the preservation of marine life. The shoe is made out of plastic bottles, along with plastic fishing nets, which are intricately designed and woven to become a quality running shoe. Along with running shoes, other sportswear brands have created jerseys and shirts using recycled ocean plastic.
Skateboards
A company called Bureo is known for crafting various quality products with the use of plastic fishing nets that are then converted into plastic pellets. One of the products that they were able to create was skateboards. These skateboards are able to provide the same quality and durability of conventional skateboards, allowing you to be able to go around and do tricks with little hassle.
Carpet tiles
Net-works is a company that collects discarded fishing nets in the ocean and repurposes them to create products like carpet tiles. Nets can hurt and kill various marine life, which is why retrieving them from the ocean will only keep them safer and healthier. These carpet tiles can be used in various building and housing projects and provide the same quality and durability.
Key Takeaway
Improper plastic waste disposal is one of the biggest environmental issues we face today. The development of recycled ocean plastic allows various companies to be able to create new products, while also helping the environment at the same time. Recycled ocean plastic not only provides a similar quality compared to conventional plastic, but it also ensures that plastic waste around the world would be reduced.