Cape Town - In support of World Oceans Day, Ocean Plastics Technologies (OPT) is promoting innovative processes in the plastic recycling industry.
The South African company has developed a new way to recycle plastic waste with their Micro Recycling Plants (MRP’s), mobile containers that process reclaimed plastic waste more sustainably than big material recovery facilities such as the large recycling plants.
OPT Managing Director Oliver Nudds, said this process aimed to clean communities and deal with waste plastic before it goes into the water systems, while creating sustainable opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“We wanted to intercept plastic waste at the source in order to stop them from entering the waterways and the oceans, by collecting plastic in our MRPs which are placed as close to the source of waste as possible, whether it’s a beach, a river, a landfill or a harbour,” said Nudds.
Nudds said the localisation made it easier for the public to recycle their plastic waste as they didn’t have to travel long distances to access recycling facilities. Additionally, the MPR’s were independently operated by entrepreneurs thus providing sustainable opportunities for small business owners to benefit financially from the success of the containers.
“The plastic collected by the reclaimers is sorted, cleaned and shredded at the MRP and then sold back into the existing supply chain, where it is recycled by manufacturing facilities into new products,” said the Managing Director.
MRP Operator Njabula Dlamini said it was all about sustainability as they were trying to protect the environment and reduce the rate at which plastic was being polluted into the oceans.
“Our aim is to enhance sustainability and economic development. The containers have a huge impact on the communities and allow entrepreneurs to pursue their skills and vision for a cleaner and sustainable future,” said Dlamini.
“We’re not eliminating plastic use, we’re rethinking it by creating an emerging economy that will lead to a circular plastic economy and empower industries, consumers and communities across the world to reduce plastic waste,” said Nudds.