Ocean-bound versus Ocean-found
A new category of recycled synthetics uses material at risk of ending up in the open sea or recycled from debris fished out of the ocean. These two sources constitute, regrettably, a near unlimited supply.
Tired of recycled polyester made from beverage bottles? Ocean-bound plastics are coming on board offering a new, and possibly more compelling, option. Unifi and Primaloft introduced this new family of recycled polyester fibres a few years ago, Thermore launched a range last summer and Advansa is making its comeback into apparel applications riding on the same wave. Its polyester yarns are not only made from abandoned plastics but are also enhanced with an additive that accelerates biodegradation, potentially lessening their ability to pollute waterways. The noble cause of reducing plastic pollution, particularly this highly visible form that taints tropical beaches, is being seized upon to drive a new slate of sustainable strategies and marketing messages.
The concept is, at first blush, commendable. But what exactly is ocean-bound plastic? The vagueness of the term raises several flags. At what point is a piece of plastic deemed at risk of ending up in the high seas? What about the plastics that are not ocean-bound, but ocean-found? These are legitimate questions as awareness grows of the pervasiveness of plastics in the environment, including of course the massive gyres, some say continents, of debris in the oceans.
As can be expected, it is difficult to quantify the amount of plastic in the world’s oceans. A report on marine litter and plastic pollution published by the UN Environment Programme in 2021 gives a wide ballpark to work with. The volume of plastics that are in the oceans could be anywhere between 75 million and 199 million tonnes, it says. Depending on what approaches are used, it has been estimated that plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems yearly, based on 2016 data, could be 9 million to 14 million tonnes, or 19 million to 23 million tonnes. The report’s projections vary accordingly, with one view assuming that as much as 53 million tonnes will reach oceans every year by 2030.
Whatever the reality of plastic pollution in marine ecosystems, research confirms that there is an ample source of waste that should find better uses. It not only pollutes coastal ecosystems that affect marine life but all living beings, including humans. Preventing these abandoned plastics, possibly a better term for this form of waste, from entering the oceans is obviously a good idea. They will be more at risk of doing so in regions where sanitation services are lacking or overwhelmed. These are places where the task of cleaning up beaches and coastal regions is for the most part left to local, informal networks.
A number of social and environmental organisations have sprung up to address the issue by putting together and certifying full recycling supply chains, from collection to production, backed by traceability, often GPS-tagged. Their mission extends to supporting the local communities that do the picking.
The definition of ocean-bound plastics, as set by these organisations, has reached a form of loose consensus. Zero Plastic Oceans, an organisation based in France, manages the Ocean Bound Plastic (OPB) label. It covers all types of abandoned plastics that municipal or private sanitation services do not collect. These can be found in the ocean, in an area located within 200 metres of river mouths and shores, or up to 50km away from the coastline.
Mismanaged waste, another term used to describe ocean-bound plastics, has the advantage of drawing attention to the fact that waste collection can be deficient or lacking. Nextwave, a framework for socially responsible ocean-bound plastic supply chains, has also set its perimeter at 50 kilometres from a waterway or coast.
And this is how the notion of a 50km radius from a coast has come to be a standard for what is now commonly called ocean-bound plastics.
A growing offering
Unifi, a US-based producer of polyester, introduced its first Repreve-branded recycled yarns made from ocean-bound plastics in 2019. They are certified by Ocean Cycle, which “supports coastal recycling programmes for at-risk areas,” says Diederik Janssen, brand and sales manager for Europe. He notes that this social enterprise seeks not only to prevent ocean plastic pollution but also to improve livelihoods in coastal communities through certification and direct social interventions. Brands that have integrated the Repreve Our Ocean yarns include H&M, Primark, Quiksilver, and even Tiffany in its Smile Bracelet (sold for €1,100).
US-based insulation specialist Primaloft launched a range of fillers made from ocean-bound plastics that same year with Parley for the Oceans. It has since introduced a new range certified by Ocean Cycle. Nordic sportswear brands Helly Hansen and Isbjörn are early adopters and featured the filler in this winter’s ranges. “OceanCycle’s values, focused on collaboration and transparency, align with our Relentlessly Responsible mission to reduce impact. They are a renowned and respected source of coastal plastics,” says Tara Maurer-Mackay, Primaloft’s head of product strategy.
Another insulation maker, Thermore, introduced recycled polyester made from ocean-bound plastics in its range of free fibre fillers, Ecodown Fibers Ocean, in 2023. These are also certified by Ocean Cycle. “This new reference has the same properties as our other ranges, it is very soft and packable, and has an even more down-like hand feel. Demand is high for this product,” Thermore sales manager Oliver Brandes tells WSA.
Polyester producer Advansa, under new ownership since 2020 when investment holding company Sverige Netherlands acquired the former DuPont company, is now part of group that also owns Asia Pacific Fibers (APF), an Indonesian producer of polyester. The launch of Remotion yarns made from ocean-bound plastics is the first tangible fruit of this collaboration, says David Bayliss, Advansa’s managing director. “Turning PET bottles into rPET was formerly one of our main businesses. We were processing up to 2 million bottles per day.” During what he calls the “bottle wars”, the price for post-consumer bottles increased threefold. It hit Advansa’s business hard, leading to the buyout and transfer of fibre production from Germany to APF in Indonesia. The archipelago of 17,000 islands has varying levels of effective sanitation services, inspiring the two partners to make the new yarn from abandoned plastics, certified by Prevented Ocean Plastic. This organisation, he says, has invested heavily in supporting the informal collection of plastic debris in the islands lacking operational garbage collection.
“Plastics that are in the ocean, as opposed to being on land, are prohibitively expensive to collect and cannot be mechanically recycled,” Mr Bayliss goes on to explain. “This is why it makes sense to collect them on land, before they enter the ocean.” He adds that APF has set up a production line specifically for recycled PET that can even spin microfibres. Remotion yarns, he says, are 100% recycled and deliver the same performance as a conventional fossil-fuel based polyester.
Rescuing ocean debris
Seaqual is one of the few organisations to offer polyester yarns recycled from plastics fished out of the sea. The company based near Girona, Spain, has set up collection networks with fishing operations in Mexico, Tunisia, Egypt, Vietnam and the Philippines. They recovered 1,000 tonnes of marine litter in 2023. These ocean-found plastics are, however, “heavily degraded by exposure to UV and salt water, as opposed to ocean-bound plastics that are ‘fresh’,” says François Devy, director of operations for the Seaqual Initiative. Like ocean-bound plastics, they are mechanically recycled into yarn by a production partner, Spanish producer Antex. But only 10% can be integrated into a polyester yarn, blended with post-consumer PET from land sources. “In addition to its factory in Spain, Antex has facilities in the US and Brazil, which makes it possible to produce the recycled polyester yarns locally,” he adds.
Seaqual’s mission, he says, encompasses supporting local communities by paying a premium to those that suffer most from marine pollution. The entire system is also transparent, backed by a chain of custody, from the location where the debris was collected to the Antex factory and ultimately to the brand. “We will soon have a fully traceable and transparent system up and running to enable brands to use that information in their marketing,” he tells WSA. This digital passport in development will indicate where the plastics were collected along with their environmental and social impacts. It should, he says, “help increase the price that a family based in Egypt gets paid to reduce marine pollution.”
Brands sourcing Seaqual-branded polyester yarns numbered 2,200 in 2023, up from 71 in 2018. The company is now working on the launch, this year, of its first range of polyamide 6 or 66 yarns made from chemically recycled fishing nets. “Nets have been collected from the start, but they were not certified or recycled into textile yarns,” he says.
Italian polyamide producer Aquafil has been recycling fishing nets, and carpets, to make its chemically recycled Econyl-branded ‘regenerated’ nylon 6 since 2011. It is a co-founder of Healthy Seas, an organisation that reclaims discarded fishing nets and celebrated its tenth anniversary last year. In its 2022 sustainability report, Aquafil says Healthy Seas recovered 905 tonnes of abandoned fishing nets and other marine litter.
South Korean conglomerate Hyosung has been offering a polyamide 6 yarn made from recycled fishing nets since 2007, making it a pioneer in this space. The company has recently increased capacity for its recycled nylon, which is made from both pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, Simon Whitmarsh- Knight, Hyosung marketing manager for textiles, tells WSA. Fishing nets, he says, are mostly made from nylon and some 60% can be recycled into new yarns. The company offers two versions of its regen nylon, a yarn made from 100% post-consumer recycled waste and one that is a 50/50 blend of post-consumer recycled and virgin nylon, both fully traceable and GRS-certified.
Patagonia uses both ocean-found and ocean-bound plastics in its ranges. It has developed two mountaineering jackets integrating WL Gore’s ePE Gore-Tex membrane laminated to an outer fabric composed of 50% ocean-bound plastics collected in Costa Rica through a partnership between Bionic and Gore, and 50% PET waste collected by official sanitation services in the country. But the US-based outdoor brand has also, since 2014, offered products made from NetPlus nylon, 100% recycled from discarded fishing nets. These are collected from fishing communities in South America through a partnership with Bureo, a company based in California, that Patagonia has invested in. It says that this programme has made it possible to collect and recycle more than 2,000 tonnes of discarded fishing nets over the years.
Demand for ocean-bound plastics is growing, confirms Vincent Decap, co-founder of Zero Ocean Plastics. “In the past six months, we have had numerous textile and apparel manufacturers based in China requesting ocean-bound plastics certification.” Marine pollution is a global issue that resonates widely in society, he adds, even though these lost plastics only represent a meagre percentage, in the range of 1% to 3%, of all plastics produced. “Everyone loves the beaches, and consumers feel deeply concerned by the issue. People see it as an immediate and tangible problem, as opposed to the more abstract notion of greenhouse gas emissions,” points out David Bayliss at Advansa. François Devy, at Seaqual, is quick to add that there are two distinct issues here: the plastics that are truly ocean-found versus those that are, potentially, ocean-bound.
sandOcean, a brand founded by Canary Islands-based Ana Santonja, has chosen a fabric made from Seaqual yarns for its launch range that features prints inspired by Fuerteventura. The second collection will focus on Lanzarote. It plans to propose a range for each of the islands.
CREDIT: Christina Cunningham
