What do you do with the plastic you recover from the ocean?Updated 10 months ago

Recovered plastics are transported back to local facilities in Florida, Guatemala, and Indonesia where they are weighed, documented, washed, and sorted by type and color. What happens next depends on the type of plastic: 

• Some plastics are shredded and/or recycled to create new 4ocean products that fund our cleanups and advance our mission

• Some plastics are taken to a local recycling center where they are processed into raw materials that other manufacturers can use to create new products without using virgin plastic

• Plastics that can’t be recycled may be extruded and used to create things like plastic lumber

• When we’ve exhausted every other option, plastics at the end of their lifecycle are either responsibly landfilled or sent to the Solid Waste Authority in West Palm Beach, Florida—one of the most advanced, efficient, and low-emission waste management facilities in the United States—where it’s converted into energy that powers thousands of homes and businesses in our local community.