Upcycling the Oceans
In 2015, Ecoalf, through its own Foundation as well as the support from the HAP Foundation, embarked on its most ambitious project: Upcycling the Oceans, a worldwide adventure that will help remove marine debris from the bottom of the oceans thanks to the support of certain fishermen.The revolutionary project aims to be replicated all over the world and its main objective is to recover trash that is destroying the sea, and transform it into top quality yarn to produce garments.
This pioneering initiative has three objectives: to remove litter that damages marine ecosystems from our seas; giving a second life to recovered waste with a circular economy view, and raising awareness about the global issue that marine litter presents.
This project is complex and faces great challenges, mostly concerned with the low and inconsistent quality of the debris recovered by the fishermen. It is often broken and weak as a result of its sunlight, salt and water exposure. Investment in R&D is crucial to the attainment of quality in line with Ecoalf’s standards.
Once recovered and brought to land, these residues are classified and stored depending on their nature for their latter recycling. Particularly, the PET plastic bottles that constitute the main raw material of Ecoalf, are first transformed into flakes and pellets in order to later obtain a high-quality, 100% polyester recycled filament without the necessity of keeping on using the planet’s natural resources.
In 2050
there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.