The marine plastics challenge has prompted stakeholders to come together and tackle the biggest issue in ocean sustainability by cooperating.

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Ghost nets, or fishing nets that have been abandoned or lost by fishermen, are being collected by fishing companies working together with Waste Free Oceans.

Brand owners, converters and the fishing industry are being invited by Waste Free Oceans to come together to get involved in recycling marine plastics into new products.

This fledgling value chain begins by collecting waste plastics that have been lost at sea, helping to reduce and eventually clear the marine environment of the vast gyres of plastics that have collected across the planet.

Head of the UN Environmental Programme Erik Solheim has raised awareness to the fact that plastic waste is depositing on the sea bed at the North Pole and entering the food chain, while the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has been campaigning for change by highlighting that eight million tonnes of plastic waste is entering the world's oceans every year - equivalent to one rubbish truck's capacity every minute. If nothing is done, there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish in the sea by 2025 and by 2050, there will be more rubbish in the sea than fish.

Waste Free Oceans brings together the fishing, plastics and converting industries to transform floating ocean plastic by collaborating to create products from ocean plastics.

Fishermen are at the beginning of the value chain, gathering lost or abandoned 'ghost' fishing nets, plastic bottles and other plastic wastes. Next, the recyclers sort and clean the plastic, and then converters recycle the raw material in combination with other recyclates to design a new item.

At present, 10 European countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, France, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and Denmark) are fishing for litter. Fishermen from these countries use of a special trawling net and collect between six and eight tonnes of plastic waste on their collection missions. The costs for this are borne by partner companies or processors, sending a clear signal for the responsible management of resources.

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Waste Free Oceans

Waste Free Oceans

The trawler net fishermen working with Waste Free oceans are using to gather marine plastics.

One example of marine plastics supply chain cooperation, detergent manufacturer Ecover utilises ocean plastic from the Portuguese processor Logoplaste, turning the marine plastic into a bottle.

Companies using a lot of packaging are showing a noticeable interest in using recycled material as informed and environmentally aware customers drive sustainable change.

At a time when the topic of plastics circularity is more important than ever for the entire industry, Waste Free Oceans is creating a bridge between stakeholders. The issue of marine litter must also be addressed by improved waste collection and sorting on land. To this end, among others, Waste Free Oceans is also working with the WWF, the UN Environment Programme and the Diplomatic Council.

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