The UK-based supplier of Prevented Ocean Plastic, Bantam Materials, has announced plans to open 25 high-volume recycling collection centres by 2025.
The planned locations are in Southeast Asia, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean.
Reportedly, 20 high-capacity collection centres will be capable of processing 100t of discarded plastic waste per month. Five more will be bigger ‘aggregation centres’ able to process up to 500t per month.
By 2025 Prevented Ocean Plastic expects to collect 54,000t of plastic waste per year across the 25 centres, the equivalent weight of 270 blue whales.
According to the organisation, the new and enhanced infrastructure focused on responsible sourcing has targets to support 1,000 direct jobs.
Each new centre will supply the collected material to a recycler underpinned by the Prevented Ocean Plastic Standards. These were developed in accordance with the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) base code and follow the Code of Good Practice developed by ISEAL, as well as Bantam Materials’ Good Manufacturing Practices and traceability process.
Over half of the collection centres will be new builds supported by various partners, including the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is working directly with Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia. The remaining centres will enhance the infrastructure of existing sites alongside local, trusted partners.
The first collection centre has been unveiled in Semarang, Indonesia, in partnership with USAID.
This new centre will process 500t per month, helping to address the growing volumes of waste in Semarang, one of the largest cities in Java and expand recycling in the region.
Prevented Ocean Plastics director Raffi Schieir commented: “At a time when there’s a lot of negative talk about the future of the planet, it’s good to be doing something that has an immediate, positive impact on people and their local communities.”
Schieir previously told Packaging Gateway that “we should be cutting our use of virgin plastic wherever possible, but it’s equally important to create a circular economy for recycled materials where plastic is required.”
