Making treasure out of trash: the businesses making products from ocean waste
Making treasure out of trash: the businesses making products from ocean waste
2023-06-27
Do you know how much waste is in the ocean? According to AFP, an estimated 5 trillion pieces of garbage are in the world’s oceans right now. That waste directly injures millions of sea creatures every year, says Taiwan’s Ocean Conservation Administration. The call to clean up Taiwan’s waters is growing. And some companies are taking on the challenge of making new products out of waste recovered from the sea. Let’s meet the businesses making treasure out of trash.
A sea turtle struggles to swim as it drags a long fishing net along in the water. Luckily, these people were able to help.
But the coral reef down here is being strangled by ocean waste. If we don’t pay attention soon, it may be too late to save it. The Ocean Conservation Administration says it has collected as much as 13,000 tons of ocean waste in less than five years. As ecological awareness grows in Taiwan, more and more people are volunteering for ocean clean-up projects, and companies are stepping up to reuse and recycle ocean waste.
Hsu Chia-ming
Ecofriendly shoe company
Plastic bottles generally represent about 20% of ocean waste. They’re the largest single component of ocean waste. We use about five recovered waste bottles for one flip-flop, as well as three oyster shells. We generally use about 15 bottles to make one, larger-sized, casual sneaker.
This company uses garbage pulled out of the ocean to make everything from your typical blue-and-white slippers to a super-stylish statement sneaker. The plastic is first broken down and then reprocessed into new material. It saves plastic, and provides great material for shoes.
Hsu Chia-ming
Ecofriendly shoe company
Plastic bottles become a very soft and malleable material for shoes. Oyster shells are also a great source of natural calcium oxide. It’s an inorganic material, so it’s antibacterial, emits far infrared radiation and resists static electricity.
And you can wear ocean waste on more than just your feet. These clothes and bags, laptops, keyboards, mice and cleaning fluid bottles are all made from stuff the ocean didn’t need.
Lee Yi-hua
Environmental Protection Administration
Most recycling and reuse of ocean waste involves plastics. But you need to use about three times as much material when you recycle plastic bottles recovered from the ocean, because the plastic is degraded by ultraviolet radiation from sunlight when it spends a long time in the seawater.
To deal with ocean waste sustainably, lots of technical challenges remain. But many companies are keen to get in on the act of turning garbage into gold.
拯救海洋生物! 海廢回收變身藍白拖.3C產品
2023-06-27
您知道全球海洋廢棄物有多少嗎？根據法新社報導，目前約有5兆個塑膠碎片，在海中漂浮，我國海保署也指出，每年約有數百萬的海洋生物，深受海廢所害。面對淨零碳排趨勢，許多企業不斷鑽研技術，創造循環再利用價值，像有海廢就變身成藍白拖、筆電、鍵盤等3C產品，一起來看看。
海龜拖著長長的漁網，使勁游出水面，好在民眾發現，得以及時解圍。
不過待在海底的珊瑚，被海洋廢棄物纏身，如果沒被注意到，恐怕難以幸運存活。根據海保署統計，近5年蒐集到的海廢，多達1萬3千公噸，隨著環保意識抬頭，不僅越來越多民眾參與淨灘，各行各業也想方設法，讓海廢有新用途。
[[環保鞋執行長許佳鳴]]
“寶特瓶一般來說的話，是佔了20%的海洋廢棄物，它也是最多的海洋廢棄物。拖鞋的話，我們會用5個左右的海廢寶特瓶，還有3個牡蠣殼。休閒鞋比較大的話，一般是用到15個左右的寶特瓶。”
從日常可見的藍白拖，到時尚感十足的潮鞋，都是將海廢清洗乾淨，重組成再生塑膠粒料後，加工製作而成，不但減少塑膠使用，還具備天然功效。
[[環保鞋執行長許佳鳴]]
“寶特瓶變成很柔軟，很有彈性的鞋材之外，3個牡蠣殼也是很好的天然氧化鈣，它是一種無機質，所以可以抗菌、遠紅外線、抗靜電。”
海廢除了能穿在腳上，也能變身成衣服、包包等紡織品，或是筆電、鍵盤、滑鼠等3C產品，以及清潔容器瓶。
[[環保署回收基管會副執行秘書李宜樺]]
“海廢循環再利用，大多以塑膠類為主。但是使用海洋廢棄的寶特瓶，因為是長時間在海水浸泡，受太陽光紫外線照射劣化，大概需要3倍以上的數量才能製作。”
儘管技術上還有許多挑戰，但面對淨零碳排趨勢，許多企業有志一同，要用循環經濟，將海廢化成黃金。
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