Keeping the ocean plastic free
This episode features Will Pearson, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Ocean Bottle. They are on a mission to save the ocean from ocean-bound plastic. Each Ocean Bottle funds the collection of 1000 plastic bottles in weight, and so far, they have collected 14,164,500 kilograms of plastic via its grassroots partners in coastal communities.
In the episode, Nilesha and Will discuss the plastic crisis the ocean is facing and how material innovation and business have the power to solve the problem and ultimately benefit people and the planet.
The scale of the problem
As you start to peel back the rug on the issue, it becomes increasingly alarming. We are still heading in the wrong direction. The rate of plastic entering the ocean is accelerating, and within the next two decades, ocean plastic is expected to quadruple.
Businesses have a responsibility, but Governments also have to take some responsibility. The UK ships a huge amount of plastic overseas to be recycled. However, a lot of it doesn’t end up being recycled, which causes further plastic pollution and social injustices to those countries receiving masses of plastic.
The design & connection gap
The design gap is created because we’re using plastic for completely the wrong types of applications. When you go to the shop and bring your reusable bag, you still fill it with plastic wrap products. We’re wrapping lettuce in material that lasts 400 years; it doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, there’s the collection gap. Once plastic exists, we aren’t good at properly collecting and recycling it, further exacerbating the impact on the ocean.
Ocean Bottle as the antidote
Ocean Bottle invests in setting up waste management infrastructure in coastal communities around the world that don’t have access to that infrastructure, where plastic ends up in waterways and rivers and flushes out into the ocean. They decided quite early on that the business would give 15% of its revenue to plastic collection projects to improve ocean health.
Every Ocean Bottle sold funds the collection of the equivalent of 1000 plastic bottles or 11.4kg of plastic with projects that enable people to bring plastic to collection points in exchange for money.
This alleviates plastic pollution in the local environment and provides jobs and income opportunities. We also have social programmes, including education, health care and financial literacy, to have a further social impact.
The Power of Business
We believe every business has both a responsibility and an opportunity to do something good for the world. Responsibility because businesses have gotten us into this mess. It’s the fastest-moving stakeholder in society, so we think it can get us out of the mess the fastest. Then opportunity because it’s becoming increasingly clear that tomorrow’s most successful brands will be those who go above and beyond for people and the planet.
