Reimagining Plastic: Turning Waste into Products | earthrise
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2019
- The explosion of plastic waste across the globe is threatening the very survival of life on the planet.
Every year, up to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic enter our oceans, and plastic waste in the environment is set to triple in the next decade - poisoning marine life, littering landscapes and clogging waterways.
"The scale of the plastic problem is huge ... If you look at our current economy it's predominantly linear. We take a material out of the ground, we make something out of it and then the majority of that material gets thrown away," says Dame Ellen MacArthur, the founder of Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
"We need to shift that economy to be one that uses materials rather than uses them up ... To build a circular economy for plastic ... we need to redesign the way we think about plastics, the way we design plastics, and the way we use plastics. So we need to eliminate the plastic that we don't need. We need to innovate for different forms of plastic, which are 100 percent recyclable, and we need to look at how we circulate plastics - designing a system whereby that material is collected, has value and feeds back into the system ... There is a massive opportunity to redesign our global economy."
Awareness is on the rise and experts report that surveys reveal a sense of true determination throughout the world to solve the plastic issue.
earthrise went to Cameroon and the UK to look at solutions to ridding the world of our most pressing waste.
Cameroon's Bottle Boats
Ismael Essoume is a young businessman in Cameroon, who is cleaning up the country from plastic waste by picking up bottles that litter the natural environment and turning them into eco-boats.
He says it can help the environment as well as local fishermen.
"The pollution affected the river and now you cannot catch fish because the fishing area is full of plastic," he says.
"So I thought to help not only clean the rivers but also to provide boats because it's not easy in the villages for someone to buy a simple boat, so now we build cheaper eco-boats that could be useful."
To date, he has built 37 boats which have removed over 24,000 bottles from Douala's rivers.
Essoume has also created Cameroon's first recycling scheme by establishing eco-bins - made from 255 bottles - where locals can discard their plastic bottles.
His initiative is not only raising awareness, it is changing the way Cameroonians approach waste.
"We want our city to be the example in Africa," he says. "We aim to supply eco-bins in the areas of Douala, all the corners in front of all the shops, the supermarket, the school, so it will be easy to come and pick up the waste and recycle it. That is the vision."
All Chewed Up
In England, we look at one of the world's stickiest problems - chewing gum.
The UK has a particularly bad problem with this plastic pollutant. But now a new invention could spell the end of the scourge.
Enviro-entrepreneur Anna Bullus has put in place a network of pink gum bins, which are themselves made of recycled gum.
As consumers discard their gum, the bins and their contents are sent off to be processed and recycled into a range of stylish products from shoes to coffee cups.
"All the solutions out there at the moment all address gum litter once it's already been dropped. There is nothing out there that's actually addressing it from the front end," she says.
"So I saw a gap in the market for a product like this and also a way of tackling behavioural change when it comes to gum litter and giving people a positive way to dispose of their chewing gum."
The invention is keeping streets gum free and paving the way for a new type of recycling.
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I've been making plastic mats for the homeless out of plastic shopping bags, and stuffing the plastic scraps into plastic bottles to make ecobricks. Thank you for this, we need more of this.
Companies that produce these plastic bottles should share some responsibilities as well
I have a high respect towards that recycling guy who makes plastic bottle boats.
In India they started using plastic waste to build roads instead of using tarmac. People bring the plastic to certain places where it is melted down some chemicals are added and the roads are nice and smooth much stronger then tarmac.
IF YOU CAN make something OUT of nothing, THEN YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING OUT OF SOMETHING'S.
I'm amazed, astonished and humbled at how a single person with a "can do" attitude can make such a beautiful difference in our messed-up world.
That young man is just getting started, I am hopeful that he will make a big impact on the city for years to come. Awareness & Education is a great way to start. I wish him and others like him the best in their endeavors!!
Come on now, Ismael!!! I know that's right! This gave me goosebumps. Saving the environment and planet equals to saving human and animal lives.
In fact I think Ishmael could build the whole community housing what crazy things a person starts thinking of when one person starts the wheel turning
This guy is smart. His English is also quite good in a French speaking country. Good work, Keep recycling
This is the type of stuff that needs to be on the news. This is why I don’t watch tv and watch UA-cam only.
Dear team Al Jazeera
That’s sweet young man is right if people are educated to understand it may help.His enthusiasm and compassion and genuine concern to make a difference are outstanding! Ishmael is a genius
Should be a pay it forward rule of "if you take a boat you must then help make a boat"...
God bless you Ismael!!!! Thank you for sharing friends!!!This is awesome!!!! Very encouraging!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏♥️♥️♥️♥️
This is what you call smart beautiful people hard working and resilient to make this a better world. Much respect for Ismael and that girl from UK. God bless
This boat maker is a genius
I’m so proud of my beautiful brothers and sisters👏👏👏👏
Why isn't this on all of the news channels globally. I am so impressed with that young man that made the plastic boats. That is so ingenious.Much respect. Save the trees in terms of wooden boats and it can last a long time.
I would shake his hand, he is doing an amazing job.