Many manufacturers use Ocean Plastic to advertise their supposedly sustainable materials. But where does the plastic really come from and is it really recommendable like play sweet bonanza slot free.
Many animals mistake plastic in the sea for food or injure themselves on it, so it is problematic. Plastic packaging made from “Ocean Plastic” gives the impression that manufacturers actively fish such plastic from the sea and use it to make their materials. But it is precisely this impression that is deceptive – and yet items made from Ocean Plastic are often the slightly better choice.
OCEAN PLASTIC
There are now shoes made from Ocean Plastic, and major drugstore manufacturers use it to make packaging for shower gel and other cosmetic products. Still others make eyeglasses or backpacks from ocean plastic. The problem: There is no legally binding definition of what exactly Ocean Plastic is. Manufacturers can therefore declare many raw materials to be “ocean plastic” – and do so.
As Adidas, for example, the plastic waste “comes from beaches and coastal regions and was recycled before it could enter the oceans.” So plastic from the sea is not in Ocean Plastic shoes.
Other products are also almost never real plastic from the sea. Instead, manufacturers often use “social plastic” – plastic collected in coastal regions not even necessarily on the beach.
IS OCEAN PLASTIC GREENWASHING?
Ocean Plastic is now criticized as greenwashing. Contrary to the assumption of many customers, it is not plastic waste from the world’s oceans. However, this is exactly what most manufacturers suggest through clever advertising photos and video clips. Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) also criticizes Coca-Cola, the world’s largest plastic packaging producer. The company has released disposable plastic bottles that are made of 25 percent Ocean Plastic. “Instead of doing something good for the environment, the supposedly innovative recycling approach probably serves more to legitimize the littering of the oceans with plastic waste and even to present it as something positive,” criticizes Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The companies are giving themselves a green image without really being more environmentally friendly. In addition, the products are usually not made of 100 percent recycled plastic waste, but contain a proportion of virgin plastic.
But Ocean Plastic is not always actually greenwashing. The small Spanish company Seaqual works with local fishermen who skim plastic waste from the oceans. Especially for such genuine ocean plastic users, it is annoying when the concept is discredited by the greenwashing of large corporations. But plastic on the ocean surface is only a fraction of the total amount in the ocean. Most of the plastic is on the ocean floor, and that’s where it’s growing.
Another problem with products made of plastic: Whether sports shoes or jerseys – every time they are washed, tiny plastic fibers come loose and end up in the ocean (again) via wastewater.
DO NOT DEMONIZE OCEAN PLASTIC
Better than any product made from ocean plastic is one that is not manufactured in the first place. After all, a lot of resources are needed to clean the ocean plastic, dye it and turn it back into a usable raw material. But recycling is always more sustainable than producing new plastic – even ocean plastic from coastal regions. This is because it reduces waste mountains and saves petroleum resources that would otherwise be needed for plastic production.
Nevertheless, environmental associations see better solutions. Packaging made from 100 percent recycled plastic has long been technically possible, but is still too rare, criticizes NABU. Deutsche Umwelthilfe is calling for an end to single-use plastic bottles and instead for a mandatory deposit system.