Three-year mission to recycle plastic in the Indian Ocean

The Plastic Odyssey ship, which arrived in Mayotte on July 15, will depart again this Tuesday, August 5, to continue its mission in the Indian Ocean.

Odyssey will head to Tanzania, then Kenya. Departing from Marseille in October 2022, the ship has already crossed the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean before arriving in the Indian Ocean, where it has been sailing for four months. Alaric de Beaudrap, port of call coordinator, explains: “We visited Lebanon, Morocco, Senegal, Cape Verde, Brazil, the Caribbean, Panama, Ecuador, and Southeast Asia.

In the Indian Ocean, we called at Réunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoros, and finally Mayotte.”* Mayotte was not originally planned for the itinerary. But after Cyclone Chido, plastic waste increased significantly on the island. “Plastic waste increased sixfold after the cyclone,” adds Alaric. Thanks to collaboration with local associations like Mayotte Nature Environnement (MNE), collection actions were carried out before the ship’s arrival so that recycling could begin quickly.

Plastic Odyssey’s goal is to help countries where plastic is rarely recycled, or not at all. On board, a special unit transforms plastic waste into new objects, such as furniture or building materials. This gives plastic a second life before it becomes difficult to process in the form of microplastics. The ship’s team also organizes workshops to teach young people, aged 8 to 15, how to recycle plastic. They also discuss alternatives to plastic, such as plates made from banana leaves, which are biodegradable.

The ship’s mission will last three years. After approximately thirty stopovers in different countries, it will end next April with a return to Marseille. Plastic Odyssey aims to continue its work and plans new expeditions to clean up remote natural sites by transforming the plastic found there.