@ green | JULY-AUGUST , 2023

But not all types of plastic can be recycled

Dr Arnold Kreilhuber

Lefteris Arapakis

Lefteris Bastakis , founder of Skypla .

Humanity produces over 430 million tonnes of plastic a year globally , twothirds of which are short-lived products that soon become waste . Experts say that abandoned , lost and discarded fishing gear is the deadliest form of marine plastic , threatening 66 per cent of marine animals , including all sea turtle species and 50 per cent of seabirds .

“ We caught a lot ( of plastic ), but as soon as we caught it , we kept the fish and threw the plastic back into the sea ,” said Mokhtar Mokharam , the team leader of the Panagiota II fishing boat . “ It ’ s been collecting plastic for two years ( since our boat started ). It ’ s better to clean the sea now that we ’ re collecting it .”

To address the plastic pollution scourge , experts say governments and businesses must lead three market shifts – reuse , recycling , reorienting , and diversification of products – and embrace a circular economy .

“ We can ’ t deny our plastic waste problem . It follows us everywhere , in the largest cities , the smallest villages , the highest mountains and the deepest seas ,” said Dr Arnold Kreilhuber , Director of the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) Europe Office .

“ We encourage solutions that reduce plastic waste generation , help manage waste sustainably and ensure a clean , healthy and sustainable environment for all . Through strong policies and market shifts using existing technologies , we can reduce plastic pollution by 80 per cent by

Recycling facilities collect and process plastic waste , but not all forms of plastics are recyclable . – UNEP

2040 .”

At a joint event with UNEP on the port of Keratsini ahead of World Environment Day on June 5 , Enaleia announced that it would start working in Egypt and Spain and upscale its activity in Kenya and Italy . The expansion will involve local partners in some of these countries . Enaleia has so far collected a total of 770 tonnes of plastic . By 2024 , it expects to be able to collect 1,000 tonnes of plastic per year .

Since 2018 , the non-profit enterprise has worked with fishers and companies in Greece to promote a circular approach and make marine ecosystems more sustainable . Fishing nets account for 16 per cent of the waste Enaleia recovered in Greece that reached the recycling plant , followed by high-density polyethylene ( 12.5 per cent ), low-density polyethylene ( eight per cent ) and metals ( 7.5 per cent ).

Other types of recyclable plastic accounted for 12 per cent of the recovered waste . The remaining 44 per cent comprised non-recyclable plastics , organic waste , microplastics and non-identifiable material .

Embracing a circular approach is what Lefteris Arapakis , a UNEP Young Champion of the Earth for Europe , had in mind when he co-founded Enaleia .

“ We are training fishing communities to fish plastic from the sea and give us their used fishing equipment . This prevents it from entering the sea and becoming the deadliest form of marine plastic – ghost nets ,” Arapakis said .

“ And then , together with recycling companies , we can turn this material into new , sustainable products and further support the fishing communities in collecting plastic from the sea .”

Every night , coordinators hired by Enaleia at the ports in their network collect and weigh the plastic each boat has recovered . The boats receive money for every kilogramme of plastic they deliver . Through a third-party blockchain system , they certify the port of origin and specific type of plastic .

The plastic is then taken to recycling companies that transform it into pellets . It is finally delivered to companies that upcycle the marine plastic to make new products , including socks , swimming clothes and furniture .

Finding recycling companies that could process the plastic Enaleia ’ s fishers collected was difficult , said Arapakis , as it required a particular cleaning procedure . Skyplast accepted the challenge . But not all types of plastic can be recycled .

“ Recyclers are not magicians . We can ’ t recycle everything . Some of the packaging we receive here is not designed for recycling ,” said Lefteris Bastakis , founder of Skyplast . “ We want packaging producers to put more effort into producing recycling-friendly packaging .”

This is one of the many issues that the international community addressed in Paris on May 29-Jun 2 at the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee ( INC-2 ) to develop an Internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution , including in the marine environment . The new legal instrument , which is expected to cover the complete life cycle of plastic , could be in place by 2024 . – @ Green