Member companies of NextWave aim to address the marine litter crisis at a global scale. Credit: Inter IKEA Systems BV.

NextWave Plastics has announced HP and IKEA as new member companies that are joining its consortium of worldwide businesses to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains.

Both the companies will join founding members Bureo, Dell Technologies, Herman Miller, Humanscale, and Interface at the fifth annual Our Ocean Conference, which is taking place on 29-30 October in Indonesia.

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Our Ocean is hosted by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and focuses on taking actions to maintain the sustainability of the oceans.

NextWave member companies aim to scale their impact and address the marine litter crisis on a global scale.

In September 2016, HP announced that it would join the First Mile Coalition to clean up plastic waste and create economic opportunity for the people of Haiti. Since then, the company used bottles collected in Haiti and built a functioning ocean-bound plastics supply chain.

Until now, the company has sourced 250t of ocean-bound plastics.

IKEA announced its updated sustainability strategy in June, with new proposals to become more eco-friendly by 2030.

“NextWave companies are making a difference today through the development of commercially viable and operational ocean-bound plastics supply chains.”

The company proposes to eliminate single-use plastic products across its stores by 2020 and aims to use only renewable and recycled materials.

NextWave managing director Dune Ives said: “With rising levels of plastic pollution, increasing warming and acidification, our ocean is in crisis. In turn, our future is at risk.

“Where others are planning for change, NextWave companies are making a difference today through the development of commercially viable and operational ocean-bound plastics supply chains and integration of this non-virgin material into products and packaging.”

Member companies of NextWave are currently sourcing verified ocean-bound plastics from Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, Haiti, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and propose to expand supply chain efforts in those countries.

They are also planning to add new sources of supply from a minimum of three additional countries, including India, Taiwan, and Thailand by 2025.