Globally only 9% of plastic waste is recycled; 12% is incinerated, whilst the remaining 79% is either sent to landfill, stockpiled in developing countries or dumped on land or in the marine environment. The UN expects the amount of plastic in oceans to triple in the next 20 years. Odyssey Innovation – a long time GGGI member – has been implementing solutions to prevent further ocean plastic pollution by offering support to the fishing community, beach clean groups, governmental bodies and eco-warriors alike through various free sustainable incentives.
The Net Regeneration Scheme – now officially endorsed by the GGGI – is one solution. Having gone through a rigorous review process by a team of global experts within the GGGI, Odyssey Innovation’s Net Regeneration Scheme is the third global project to receive such endorsement through the GGGI’s revised endorsement process. At the time of this writing, it is the only active scheme in the UK that offers free net recycling solutions of Polyethylene trawl, Nylon and other plastic generated and recovered by the fishing industry. Everything that can be recycled in the UK is recycled locally while specialist recyclers in Europe are involved for more problematic materials. To date, the scheme supports the ambitions of more than 60 stakeholders (companies, harbours, fisherfolk and charities) to adopt a best practice approach to waste disposal which is fully traceable and award-winning (see:Fishing News Award: https://vimeo.com/user100904624).
Throughout the years, and thanks to the support of several grants, Odyssey Innovation has been able to invest in the appropriate infrastructure (skips, bins, salaries, marketing, logistics) to scale its operations that were once restricted to a few harbours in Cornwall. The desire for positive change, particularly amongst the fishing industry, has been palpable in most cases. A strategic long-term partnership with Exeter City Council’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) has also broadened Odyssey Innovation’s horizons by providing excellent collections services, state-of-the-art premises with facilities for processing and storing vast amounts of waste and most recently a part-investment in an industrial shredder to produce a marine plastic granulate which is now for sale and has an infinite and exciting amount of applications.
To date one can find 3 large skips placed at Exeter City Council, Trevisker Garden Centre and Newlyn further supplemented by 15 large wheelie bins at Circular & Co -Perranporth, Surfers Against Sewage-St Agnes, Lost Gardens of Heligan, Ilfracombe, Milford Haven, Fishguard, Holyhead, Weymouth x3, Sutton x 2, Newquay, Mevagissey, Looe and Falmouth for community members to use, free of charge.
Read more on the link below:
https://www.ghostgear.org/news/2021/10/27/third-gggi-endorsed-project-odyssey-innovation-net-regeneration-scheme