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Used plastic is viewed as waste or useless garbage
and that is why some people, not you and me of course, throw it overboard.
From ships on the sea to people throwing it on the ground, it all contributes to the formation of the plastic soup and is now even forming in our own North Sea.
The composition of the plastic soup is difficult to pinpoint because it is difficult to determine where exactly all the waste comes from.
According to 'Foundation the North Sea' about 50% of the waste comes from land and the rest from ships.
Whatever the percentages may be, it's a 100% waste of an opportunity.
Especially when you realize that plastic is made from oil and that same oil can be reclaimed from the plastic waste.
The setup is simple. With 2 full barrels of oil you can produce 100 kilograms of plastic.
This plastic will eventually end up being 100 kilograms of plastic waste.
From the 100 kilograms of plastic waste, a whole barrel of oil can be reclaimed.
This means that 100 kilograms of plastic waste is equal to one barrel of precious oil.
And that is what we are going to do in the Port of Rotterdam.
Who 'we' are will be explained later. But let's first take a look at the current situation.
During a journey a ship produces industrial waste and domestic waste. The plastic in industrial waste is already being separated on board the ship.
This isn't the case yet with domestic waste (which is about 50% plastic).
Domestic waste is viewed as useless and is put into furnaces.
This is going to change in the Port of Rotterdam. In the future, the plastic waste of every ship will be separated and turned in when it sails into port.
The plastic will be separated into three categories: Recycle (for plastic still suitable for recycling),
Burn (for plastic that is too heavily polluted which will only be a small amount)
and Oil reclamation (This plastic will go to a specialized corporation that will turn this plastic waste into oil).
And this how the Port of Rotterdam, the first in the world to do so, will close its plastic cycle.
This reclaimed oil will be refined into usable fuel.
Plastic waste = oil = fuel. Simple!
We are calling this concept 'Collect your own fuel'
This is not only good for the environment but also for your bank account.
The stakeholders behind this projects are: The Plastic Soup Foundation, Foundation the North Sea
Nature Group, Bek & Verburg, Heerema Marine Contracters, Vopak Agencies, Rabobank
and Port of Rotterdam Authority.