On this years World Oceans Day, Bantam Materials, the UK-based supplier of Prevented Ocean Plastic™ – a high quality, fully traceable, recycled plastic material made from discarded plastic collected from coastal areas at risk of ocean plastic pollution – announces it will open 25 high-volume collection centres by 2025. The centres will be opened in regions that have historically lacked recycling infrastructure to deal with their plastic waste, including Southeast Asia, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Mediterranean.
The ambitious mission will develop efficient waste management infrastructure where it is currently lacking, support a circular economy on plastic, clean up the natural environment, create reliable income opportunities with dignified working conditions for local people, and provide certified and traceable premium quality recycled plastic to global markets.
Of this new infrastructure, 20 centres will be high-capacity collection centres capable of processing 100 tonnes of discarded plastic waste per month, and five will be bigger ‘aggregation centres’ able to process up to 500 tonnes per month. By 2025 Prevented Ocean Plastic™ expects to be collecting 54,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year across the 25 centres, the equivalent weight of 270 blue whales. Additionally, the 25 centres will support approximately 1,000 direct jobs and create income opportunities for thousands more bottle collectors in the informal waste sector.
Each new centre will supply the collected material to a recycler underpinned by the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Standards, which were developed in accordance with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) base code and follow the Code of Good Practice developed by ISEAL, as well as Bantam Materials’ Good Manufacturing Practices and best-in-class traceability process. Created in consultation with over 70 leading businesses, they are the most comprehensive set of standards in the industry and ensure best-practice, safe and dignified working conditions.
The first centre to open, last Sunday, was the aggregation centre in Semarang, Indonesia, which was the direct result of a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Southeast Asia. Indonesia is a country of 17,000 islands and no drinkable water from the tap, which, along with other factors, contributes to the country being ranked the number two source for ocean plastic pollution[4]. The new centre will process 500 tonnes per month, helping to address the growing volumes of waste in Semarang, one of the largest cities in Java, Indonesia, and expand recycling in the region.
Over half of the collection centres will be brand new builds, supported by various partners including USAID, who are working directly with Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Southeast Asia. The remaining centres will be enhancing the infrastructure of existing sites alongside local, trusted partners.
Raffi Schieir, Director of Prevented Ocean Plastic™, said:
“At a time when there’s a lot of negative talk about the future of the planet, it’s good to be doing something that has an immediate, positive impact on people and their local communities. By choosing recycled and looking for the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ logo, we can all support responsible sourcing through these tangible, brick-and-mortar builds. Using our repeatable Prevented Ocean Plastic™ model, there is no limit to what we can achieve. In the future we would love 25 to become 50, and 50 to become 100 centres, addressing ocean plastic pollution at scale as we continue to grow.”
Clare Romanik, USAID’s Lead Ocean Plastics and Urban Advisor, said:
“USAID is proud to partner with Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Southeast Asia to build an inclusive circular economy across Indonesia. This partnership demonstrates the power of blended finance as a model to scale solutions to the plastic crisis.”
