What types of plastic do we collect?

Types of plastic we collect

There’s a lot of terms used when it comes to plastic and where it’s collected. Here’s a breakdown of the type of plastic we collect where it comes from and what that means.

We collect plastic from 3 sources

1. Ocean Plastic

2. Ocean-Bound Plastic

3. River Plastic

4. Nature-Bound Plastic

Ocean-Bound Plastic - This is plastic that is within 50 KM of the ocean and is an area where the waste is mismanaged. Mismanaged waste means that the waste isn’t properly disposed of and because of it’s proximity to the ocean is at high risk of entering the ocean. We estimate that about 50% of the ocean-bound plastic that we could collect would have ended up in the ocean and the other 50% would have been burned in open fires.

Ocean-Plastic - this is plastic that is in the ocean or was in the ocean and washed back up onto the beach. This plastic is very negatively affecting the environment polluting oceans and beaches and harming marine and human life.

River Plastic - this is our term for plastic we pull out of rivers or streams. This plastic has a very very high likelihood of entering the ocean and is already polluting the river. This plastic can be any distance from the ocean.

Nature-Bound Plastic - this is mismanaged waste that is further away than 50 km from the ocean. This plastic will either be burned or pollute the environment in some other way. Being further away from the ocean means it’s not considered ocean-bound but that doesn’t mean that it won’t end up in the ocean it just has a lower risk. For example, The Motagua River in Guatemala has millions of pounds of plastic that flow down it that come from almost 300 kilometers away!

Classifications of plastic that we collect

We are able to collect and recycle all of these types of plastic and will soon be able to expand what we’re able to collect and recycle with your help.

Type 1 PET: This is the type of plastic that most beverages come in. This is one of the most prevalent types of plastic and it’s also one of the easiest to recycle.

Type 2 HDPE: This is the second most common type of plastic that we find. This is what milk jugs and detergent containers are made of. 

Type 5 PP - This type of plastic is what yogurt containers are made there is also an established recycling market for this type of plastic.

We recycle all of the plastic that we collect and only collect what we can recycle. Why do we do this? Because in developing countries they don’t have contained landfills or other ethical disposal options very often that means that the landfills will often dump into rivers and streams that take it right back to the ocean. So by focusing on what can be recycled we can collect a lot more plastic and make sure it doesn’t end up back in the ocean.

Why is burning plastic so bad?

Plastic is made from oil with a lot of added chemicals. This means that when you burn it plastic you’re not only releasing greenhouse gases but you’re also releasing toxic chemicals into the air. This has a direct effect on human health. 

How does plastic end up in the ocean?

There’s a lot of reasons that plastic goes into the ocean. Some of it is is from litter, some from fishing boats, some from cruise ships, yachts, and military ships. However most plastic entering the ocean actually comes from developing countries without the waste management infrastructure to handle the waste.

Citizens in these developing countries have tough choices either burn their trash or dump it somewhere where it will leak into the waterways. Both choices are bad.

Repurpose is giving a third choice where they can collect plastic and turn it in for money and other services to help them rise out of poverty.

An important thing to note is that a lot of wealthy countries ship garbage to developing countries, and that plastic can end up in the ocean.

Examples of plastic entering the ocean

This is a ravine in Guatemala that is used as the community waste dump. The ravine goes straight into a stream that is 50 meters away from the river.

This is the bank of the Maria Linda river. This is used as a dumping spot because when the rain comes it washes the trash straight into the river. Because of these dump sites the Maria Linda river is one of the most polluting rivers in the world.

Tidey vs 4Ocean:

two organizations working to stop ocean plastic

Overview

4Ocean is an organization that works in a few countries around the world to collect ocean plastic. 4Ocean primarily funds their work through selling bracelets. Every bracelet that 4Ocean sells they remove 1 pound of plastic from the ocean.

Tidey is very similar to 4Ocean. Tidey is a newer organization, and our model is to focus on stopping plastic from going into the ocean in the first place. We also have a big focus on creating economic opportunities for people in poverty.

Bracelets

The bracelets that 4Ocean sells fund the collection of 5 pound of ocean plastic.

The Tidey bracelets fund the collection of 10 pounds of ocean/ocean-bound plastic.

Where we work

4Ocean and Tidey both have operations in Guatemala. In addition to Guatemala 4Ocean also works in Indonesia, Florida, and Hawaii.

Plastic Offsetting

Tidey and 4Ocean offer another way to stop plastic pollution by offsetting your plastic use. This means that you can pay to fund the collection of plastic without purchasing any products.

4Ocean is more expensive than Tidey and while Tidey uses a gig-economy style collection method 4Ocean hires fulltime captains and crews to collect the plastic.

Tidey focuses on collecting and recycling plastic. This means that when you fund the cleanup of 1 pound of plastic with Tidey you are funding the collection AND recycling of that plastic.

Other Cleanup Organizations

The Ocean Cleanup

CleanHub

Seven Clean Seas

rePurpose Global

If you want to support our cleanup work check out the businesses that partner with us!

What type of plastic do we collect?

Repurpose works in coastal areas where there isn’t the infrastructure to properly manage waste. This means that most waste is either burned or dumped somewhere where it will leak into nature. Repurpose uses a gig-economy style collection where anyone in the community can get involved and make money collecting plastic.

The two types of plastic we collect are ocean-bound and ocean plastic. Ocean-bound plastic is plastic that is within 50 kilometers of the ocean and is mismanaged. This means that it is at high risk of entering the ocean.

Ocean plastic is plastic that is either in the ocean or has been in the ocean and washed back up onto land.