Why recycled ocean plastic is (often) a lie

The Oceans are swamped with plastic and famous brands are here to the rescue: Adidas, Coca-Cola, Ocean Cleanup and many more. But how does this work and is this really the way to save our oceans?

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What can we do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

#PlanetA​ #OceanPlastic #Cleanup​

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Camera/Video editor: Henning Goll
Video editor: Frederik Willmann
Supervising editor: Kiyo Dörrer

[gamegirl]

Can't be stressed enough, as you said: Recycling needs to be the LAST RESORT and we as a society need to seriously work on lowering our dependence on it in the first place!

[FireBlade]

"Consume to save the planet" is the most ridiculous message I've ever heard.

[DarkGT]

Even if is not recycled, getting it out of the waters must start right away.

[BillAngelos]

Stopping the plastic from becoming ocean plastic is the best option. So there is absolutely nothing wrong with ocean bound plastic because 70% of the worlds plastic falls into this category. Keeping it from drifting out to sea and spending 500 years floating around or sinking in the ocean is better than just pulling out the crap that's already out there. Obviously we need to get that crap out too, but if we keep it out, we reduce the overall crap in the waters.

[DialTransmition]

Maybe we should shift our focus from recycling to reducing and properly disposing?

[arevikshipshidi]

I worked for Adidas and it’s true they promote these “primeblue “ shoes made of “recycled ocean plastic” . I was suspecting that it’s not as easy as it is presented. Very nice and informative video. Thank you!

[melisakamac]

This made me even more depressed about the whole plastic pollution topic

[AK-txlr]

This greenwashing is sickening. Especially from Coke, the biggest producer of plastic waste in the world...

[Maaad-maaan]

At some point this is gonna end up in court as “false advertising”. There needs to be a standard for when companies can say “made with ocean plastic”.
Also what if commercial ships like cargo ships and cruises collected ocean plastic while moving cargo?
Ports could charge an entry fee in plastic per lbs and those plastics could then be used for plastic bricks.

[jp]

Instead of "saving the ocean" by buying products made from "recycled ocean plastic", how about buy fewer plastic products, or just buying less in general?

[wulfleyn]

Plastic being so damaging and difficult to recycle is a big reason for why people are advocating for the shutdown of the entire plastic industry and if not that, at least all plastics that aren't biodegradable or perfectly recyclable.

[TaintedCherub]

Very educational video!

I work part time with an organisation (Pangea Ocean Cleanup) who collect ocean-bound plastic from highly polluted rivers in Asia. In fact, by this time next year we will likely be the global leaders in ocean-bound plastic collection directly from rivers.

So far, we have had a hard time getting any attention from corporations who produce the plastic products. We will keep going, our aim is to deploy 16000 river barriers, which will reduce oceanic plastic inflows by around 80%. Currently placing barriers in Sumatra.

[angelkilier]

Recycling plastic in general is (mostly) a lie. It's almost always more expensive to recycle than to use virgin plastic and thus no manufacturer wants to spend more to just be "environmental friendly", and not may customers are willing to pay extra bucks just to buy the idea.

[k]

The Ocean Cleanup has just released a new version of their ocean plastic recovery system into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. They've used lessons learned from their original attempt that will theoretically vastly improve their ability to capture ocean plastics. They're doing a 6-week trial to see if their new model works. It'll be interesting to see.

[kapilhooda]

Great content. These companies need to be called out for their lies

[evenskial]

Another exposure of corporate greenwashing. Good job, well presented and researched. Another great topic cover from DW, my go-to for interesting articles.

[allusrnameswrtakn]

I work in the plastics industry. This is one of the most accurate videos I have seen on this topic. Great job!

[owo]

As someone who's studied environmental. Sciences and waste management as a compulsary course I've always wondered how they managed to recycle ocean plastic, considering how impure it was, who knew soap was the answer x)

[ThanDane]

Sand and that amount of dirt is no issue if its used for building materials such as tiles, sheets, etc
Heck, you can throw it around, step, jump and kick on these tiles with no scratches or marks.. Really really durable material

[twomustangs]

The Ocean Cleanup is working on both river and ocean cleaning projects. They have not given up on the oceans to work solely on rivers. I highly recommend checking out what they are doing.