"On land, we can at least monitor, see and solve problems, and minimise damage. Six thousand metres below the surface, who is watching?" said the highly respected oceanographer Sylvia Earle.

 At the opening of the UN meetings, this pioneer, former scientific director at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), pointed out that the mining industry is accompanied by environmental impacts everywhere. Thousands of politicians, experts and environmentalists are gathering in Lisbon at the call of the UN for a conference on the threats to the health of the ocean. Humankind needs to take care of the seas, which generate half the oxygen we breathe and are a vital source of protein for the daily lives of billions of people. 

One of the biggest challenges : The ocean pollution. In 2050, if we do nothing, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Once in the sea, it is too late. Only 1% of plastic waste floats, while the rest sinks or degrades into micro-particles that cannot be recovered. To effectively combat plastic pollution, we must therefore close the pollution tap and act at the source: the land.

Plastic Odyssey is committed to to help local initiatives emerge wherever they are needed

Finding ways to involve citizens

How to make citizens curious about the plastic problem, and make them want to change? How to strengthen the capacity of the inhabitants of a territory to propose solutions? And how to make entrepreneurs want to get involved? Answers exist in the four corners of the world, and we have decided to go and find them.

Giving everyone the means to act

To accelerate the transition to a world without plastic in the ocean, knowledge must be shared: sharing knowledge with those who are far from it, disseminating know-how and technologies wherever they are needed, sharing feedback on solutions that work in other territories... This is Plastic Odyssey's mission.

An expedition on 3 continents, in the areas most affected by plastic pollution

Plastic Odyssey's objective is to promote and make recycling technologies accessible.To this end, Plastic Odyssey develops low-tech and open source technologies that enable the recovery of plastic waste. These solutions are based on existing technologies that have already proved their worth in terms of sorting, recycling and pyrolysis. However, they still need some improvements and adaptations to be mobile, affordable, simple to produce and easy to repair. The plans will be available online free of charge so that everyone can access them freely.