INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Plastic pollution is a result of waste mismanagement and the over consumption of plastic. Many countries lack adequate infrastructure to manage wastes, resulting in materials being discarded inappropriately, such as harmful burning resulting in carbon dioxide and detrimental dioxins being released into the air. Some of these materials end up in landfills, while other items are littered on city streets, the countryside and along waterways.

The Infrastructure Pillar will provide global solutions towards creating a demand for marine plastics and derivatives to drive new technologies for the recycling industry, as well as identify and develop plastic equity markets. The Infrastructure Pillar incorporates the development of collection systems, assessment and planning, and implementation and training.

The infrastructure tools and solutions utilized will be incorporated from the Ocean Legacy Technologies (OLT) department, which includes:

• Zero Waste System that:
  • Processes plastic waste to increase the capture of materials before they reach aquatic environments and to encourage further extraction; and
  • Limit plastic consumption to induce the plastic producer to build reverse supply chains for products and packing.
• Technological innovation to stimulate new technology to process contaminated plastic to further reduce landfill input (e.g., plastic to fuel, CO2 resin capture for solar hydrogen pellets for resin recycling production) to drive the supply of recovered materials for use in manufacturing;
• Collaboration with large technological businesses and manufacturers to create innovative solutions to plastic pollution with larger partnerships (e.g., Lush Cosmetics North America, Resynergi Inc. and the City of Knowledge, Panama) to convert debris materials into valuable products;
• Employment opportunities and economic development with the reduction, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment, recycling, and upcycling of plastic items; and
• Development certification framework for the marine industry.

The end goal of this pillar is to support initiatives and technologies to create a carbon negative circular economy for plastics.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT TOOLS