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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The factors affecting the price of branded promotional merchandise
Statisics on the UK market for eco promotional products - size and attitude
T he Changing Cost of Eco-Friendly Products: Is There Still a Premium? SUMMARY • Eco-friendly promotional products used to be 25-30% more expensive • In recent years the volume of eco friendly products has grown substantially • So, the price differences have eroded • Eco and non-eco are now comparable in price – the product features and embellishments are more important to the price, than the eco status In recent years, the market for eco-friendly promotional products has undergone significant changes. Hi, I'm David from Pavilion, and I'm here to explore just how much the pricing paradigm has shifted for products branded as "eco" compared to their standard counterparts. If you'd asked me this question five years ago, I would have estimated a premium of 20-30% for eco products. However, the last half-decade has brought some surprising developments. Eco Products Go Mainstream Eco products have become increasingly mainstream, leading to higher volumes and reduced manufacturing costs. To understand how this has affected pricing, I conducted a survey comparing various popular products. Comparative Survey of Eco Versus Standard Products **Notebooks**: I started with notebooks, considering a batch of 100 with a one-color print. Comparing a standard hard-backed notebook made from PU (polyurethane) to a recycled PU version revealed minimal price differences—around 5%. While eco options like recycled leather or apple peel versions are pricier (£12-14 each), they compare more to luxury brands like Moleskine.
