Prevented Ocean Plastics
David Platt • 10 March 2023
Eco promotional products made from Prevented Ocean Plastics
One of the most exciting developments in eco-friendly promotional products market is the use of ‘Prevented Ocean Plastics’. That means that not only is the product made from recycled plastic but that the plastic has been collected from countries without formal waste management structures and used for recycling. Thus the recycled plastic has been prevented from entering the oceans with the resultant devastating effect on marine wild life
There is an urgent need to protect our oceans from plastic waste. If we carry on as we are now, the annual flow of plastic entering them will triple by 2040 to 29 million tons. Our oceans – and the wildlife within it – are already being harmed by plastic pollution and any increase would be awful. The program has already stopped more than one billion plastic bottles from entering the ocean and we should all be determined to do more. Every bottle counts.
What is Prevented Ocean Plastic?
The plastic collection is not from the ocean itself generally, because the salt water and sunlight creates just enough surface degradation so as to make the plastic difficult to recycle – there is however a strict definition of what constitutes Prevented Ocean bound plastic, namely
• It is found within 50km (30mi) distance of an ocean coastline or major waterway that feeds into the ocean.
• The country or region lacks waste management infrastructure and collection incentives.
• The infrastructure is being overwhelmed by population growth or tourism.
• There is a significant risk to wildlife if plastic contaminates their ecosystem.
Jambeck, J.R., Andrady, A., Geyer, R., Narayan, R., Perryman, M., Siegler, T., Wilcox, C., Lavender Law, K., (2015). Plastic Waste inputs from land into the ocean, Science, 347, p. 768-771.
Pavilion Earth work with an organisation called Bantam Materials which supplies the recycled polymer used in the bottle products you see below. Bantam, working with the international Ethical Trading Initiative remove over 1,000 tons per month of plastic from being Ocean Bound. They also provide $100,000 per day back into coastal communities for the recycling of what now amounts to billions of bottles. Bantam work in South East Asia, South America and the Galapagos Islands, Central America & Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and East Africa.
So what does the merchandise look like?
A typical product looks like this:
H2O Active® Eco Base 650 ml spout lid sport bottle - Charcoal / Solid black
21009900
Single-wall sport bottle with ergonomic design. Bottle is made from Prevented Ocean Plastic, transformed into high quality, food-safe recycled plastic. Features a spill-proof lid with flip-top drinking spout. Volume capacity is 650 ml. Mix and match colours to create your perfect bottle. Contact us for additional colour options. Made in the UK.
Available in a range of colour combinations and of course can be printed with you logo either via a screen print or a wraparound digital print
Being UK manufactured does mean that there are no Chinese air miles involved in the process.
The product is elegant and well designed – eco-friendly merchandise can be high quality as well. Other bottles in the range include:
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SUMMARY: Comparing eco promotional products is difficult because of the range of materials used Carbon footprint is a measure which allows comparison Need to look at CO2 equivalent because of the use of organic solvents in promotional merchandise There is a difference between Cradle to Gate and Cradle to Grave in the measurement, because we never know whether the end user will attempt to recycle products Pavilion is a specialist in providing branded promotional products, which are sustainable. The most common question we're asked, of course, is what's the most sustainable branded product? And how would you measure that? And that's a difficult question and often comes with hesitations. Why? This blog aims to try and explain eco credentials, particularly for promotional merchandise and how you might compare them. The first problem you have, is that you're comparing different materials. This is why it's difficult is because there's no true standard of sustainability. There is no international marking that says, this one's a 10, and this one's a 1. The nearest you have is carbon footprint. Carbon footprint generally means the amount of carbon dioxide measured in kilos, but you have to be a bit careful with that, particularly for promotional merchandise because carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas. You may be fully aware that methane, natural gas has a global warming effect 50 to 60 times more than CO2. So, you don't need to measure just CO2, you've really have to look at a CO2 equivalent. In other words, converting the methane. And why do I mention that? Promotional merchandise is often printed and unless you are using water based inks, there will be solvents, and therefore, CO2 equivalent is what you need to measure. The next problem that you've have is what are you measuring the carbon footprint of? Are we talking what's termed - Cradle to Grave or Cradle to Gate? The concept is explained in the diagram.
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