An initiative that sees waste plastic being collected from the seas around the UK by EU fishermen for recycling has been launched by plastic bottle recycler Closed Loop Recycling (Dagenham / UK; www.closedlooprecycling.co.uk) and ecological cleaning products manufacturer Ecover (Newbury, Berkshire / UK; www.ecover.com).

Through the project, waste plastic recovered from the sea is sent to the UK for recycling at Closed Loop’s Dagenham facility and re-used in new packaging. This initiative has led to the recycler undertaking trials with Ecover for a new type of plastic using rHDPE, “plantastic” (made from sugar cane and recovered plastic) and the waste marine plastic. Ecover is working with Closed Loop to develop the material as it has facilities to recycle both PET and HDPE and is familiar with the challenges involved in developing new types of packaging using recycled content.

The two companies are supporting the “Waste Free Oceans” (WFO) initiative, which aims to reduce floating marine debris on Europe’s coastlines, as well as highlighting the problem of litter to consumers, the importance of recycling and the value of used plastic as a resource. Using existing fishing trawls and new technology, boats outfitted with a special trawl will be able to collect between two and eight tonnes of waste per trawl for cleaning and recycling.

Chris Dow, CEO of Closed Loop Recycling, said: “The Waste Free Oceans initiative is not simply about cleaning up our oceans of unwanted litter, which is of course important in itself environmentally. It’s about the industry taking responsibility for plastic litter and educating people to take responsibility for their own waste and recycle as much of it as possible, in the knowledge that recyclers like us can maximise this resource and enable it to be re-used in new food and drink packaging, thus reducing our reliance on oil-rich virgin materials.”

Ecover’s involvement in the initiative is part its "message in our bottle" campaign, which will see the company using the new plastic made from 100% sugarcane and plastic recovered from the sea by 2014.