Prevented Ocean Plastic hits 2.5 billion bottle collection milestone

Prevented Ocean Plastic has collected over 50,000 tonnes of plastic since the programme launched in 2019, equivalent to 2.5 billion bottles prevented from reaching the ocean.

The project collected its second billion bottles in less than half the time it took to collect the first billion, it said in a statement. That result is a ‘direct result of its expansion of plastic recycling infrastructure worldwide’, it added. Since last year, Prevented Ocean Plastic has opened two extra centres in Indonesia, the world’s second largest source of ocean plastic pollution. One is located in port city of Semarang, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and another in North Jakarta which opened in October 2023 with the support of Singapore-based circular economy investment firm Circulate Capital.

A further eight centres are currently under construction, with two in Indonesia expected to open in Spring 2024. The new builds will create hundreds of new jobs in the region as well as allowing for the collection of thousands of tonnes of plastic each month. Prevented Ocean Plastic plans to open 25 high-capacity plastic collection centres by 2025, with a collection capacity of 54,000 tonnes per year.

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. Twenty 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.

The programme has grown into an award-winning initiative that works in partnership with global brands ranging from Lidl to Patagonia. The project collaborates with several plastics manufacturing partners including Groupe Guillin, Spectra Packaging, and Berry Global.