A new project named LifeGate PlasticLess has been launched to reduce plastic waste in the sea using LifeGate Seabin devices to collect it. The aim is also to promote truly circular economic as well as consumption models centred on reducing, reusing and recycling waste, in particular the most harmful to the environment: plastics.
Sea pollution is increasing rapidly as ghost nets and plastic are seen travelling through the world’s oceans. Marine debris is hazardous not only for the the people making a living by the oceans, but also for the marine life. To save the oceans a California-based cargo ship named ‘Kwai’ collected 40 tonnes of plastics from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and docked in a Konolulu, Hawaii Harbour.
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, called the shipping industry for solutions concerning oceans’ pollution, as he quoted that the plastic waste that exists in the oceans, will surpass the number of fish that live in them, addressing the emergency state the oceans are in. The discussions that were focused on how to deal with plastic debris and oceans’ pollution were conducted during an event, part of June’s G7 meeting in Canada.
During the World Oceans Day event, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, highlighted the importance of a healthy and sustainable marine environment, while also he discussed that gender equality plays an important role in attempts of restoring and protecting the planet’s ocean.
According to a study conducted by the University of Exeter scientists, hundreds of sharks and rays have become tangled in plastic waste in the world’s oceans. The study highlights that more than 1,000 species have been found entangled and it is said that the number is to be far higher.
Carnival Corporation revealed plans to significantly eliminate its purchase and consumption of non-essential single-use plastics across its nine global cruise line brands by the end of 2021. The decision is part of an expansion of Operation Oceans Alive, the corporation’s program to sustain environmental compliance.
Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough highlighted that industrial overfishing is more dangerous to the ocean than plastic. According to World Economic Forum, if the ocean was an economy, it would be the seventh largest globally. Yet, instead of protecting it, humans jeopardise its future.
The Swedish company Le Cord launched a collection of Apple-certified charging cables, for specifically iPhones, which were made from ghost fishing nets. According to the company, these are the world’s only Apple MFI certified charge and sync cable made of recycled ocean fishing net plastics.
Partners collaborated in order to remove the non-recyclable plastics from the North Sea and deliver it, after conversion, as a clean transportation fuel to the CIV Texel fishing fleet. The agreement stated that the participating fishermen will take all non-recyclable plastic waste from their fishing nets to shore.
Over the coming weeks, the Ocean Cleanup will perform several tests to slow down or speed up the system. At the initial stage, the team will start the first test to attempt slowing down the system. The latest version of this design, dubbed System 001/B, has arrived in the patch after eight days of transit.
