With COP27 about to begin in Sharm El Sheikh, Prevented Ocean Plastic has announced a “major expansion” of its “award-winning” programme into Africa.
Prevented Ocean Plastic says its global programme has “saved” one billion bottles from entering the ocean across the world over the past three years.
It continues that the expansion will save up to 5,000 tonnes of plastic a year – or 220 million bottles – from entering the ocean from pollution in two areas in Africa, including the Swahili Coast and where the Nile meets the Mediterranean.
The programme will also provide “fairly paid work” for collectors and employees in the recycling centres – worker conditions and pay are monitored as part of the new standards – Prevented Ocean Plastic Africa says.
We don’t need to sacrifice sustainability to create fairly paid work and produce quality alternatives to virgin plastic.
The programme will build infrastructure to collect plastic from areas with little or no current recycling infrastructure for expert, food-safe processing in North Africa, Prevented Ocean Plastic Africa says.
The organisation says the Prevented Ocean Plastic Standards were created in consultation with over 70 “leading” businesses and underpin all the work of the programme. It continues that the standards were designed to meet the needs of the world’s best recyclers.
Raffi Schieir, Director of Bantam Materials, said, “We’re proud to be able to launch this transformative programme in Africa. As we begin COP27, and with G20 nearly upon us, we’re urging the sector, regulators and officials to come and meet with us to learn more about what’s possible.
“We don’t need to sacrifice sustainability to create fairly paid work and produce quality alternatives to virgin plastic. We have a proven model that can be expanded at scale.
“Together, with relatively small investment, we can use the Prevented Ocean Plastic model to scale up the production of our award-winning product all while creating more jobs and stimulating local communities.”
