Plastic Odyssey

Plastic Odyssey is a non-profit organization helping to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean while alleviating poverty by showing that plastic waste is a resource too valuable to enter the seas.

79% of plastic waste is accumulated in landfills or the natural environment causing water and soil contamination. At sea, plastic micro particles is responsible for the contamination of seafood. At the same time, the value of recyclable packaging material lost annually to the economy is estimated at USD 120 billion. 

To achieve their goal, Plastic Odyssey will circumnavigate the globe for 3 years to promote plastic recycling on a boat partially powered by plastic waste turned into oil. This world premiere is made possible thanks to an innovative technology called plastic-to-fuel. 

This is the first expedition around the world to reduce the plastic pollution in our oceans. They will set sail in 2020 and circumnavigate the globe for 3 years to collect waste plastic and promote recycling. Their vessel will be solely powered by eco-fuel made only out of plastic waste.

During their expedition that will take them to 33 main ports of call throughout Africa, Latin America & Asia, they will:

• Organize cleanup sessions on the coasts and in nearby towns before and during the stay of the vessel.
• Transform and demonstrate how to transform recyclable plastics into other materials such as building bricks and slabs…
• Power the ship until the next stop with the remaining non-recyclable waste (stored onboard and converted to energy to power the boat’s engines, thanks to an onboard pyrolysis unit).

Rather than in-house development, they plan to crowdsource solutions through enthusiasts, academics, and start-ups. They also plan to make their technology are free of rights (open-source) and not patented. Finally, the innovations will be frugal (low-tech) and low cost to be easily reproducible and used by the greatest number.

Their current partners are:

• Financial: Groupe Clarins, Crédit Agricole, Fondation Veolia, Fondation Bénéteau 
• Institutional: Explore, French Ministry of the Environment, 1% for the Planet, Darwin Foundation, Green Tech Verte
• Technical: SARPI Veolia, INSA Valor, Bee Engineering, Ship As A Service, IMOS, VPLP, Institut d'Optique, ENSAM, Pellenc ST, Greentropism, Balanced Energy, CNRS, Ecolomy, INSA Lyon, Precious Plastic, Cefrepade, Laita Sailing

Their Official suppliers and service providers are Europcar, Torqeedo, ENSVN, Plastimo, Collectif VOUS

They have received media coverage from BFM TV, National Geographic, Le monde, Le Point, TF1, M6, France 2, France 3, Arte, Paris Match, Ouest France, Sciences et Avenir, Le Télégramme, France Info, France Inter, Europe 1, etc.

You can reach out to Benjamin Demolliens  if you are interested in a partnership. They would love to have you aboard!