A PLASTIC TIDE: MINING FLOATING PLASTIC WASTE THROUGH LANDSCAPE PROCESSES

Abstract

The United Nations estimates that 40% of the 300 million tons of plastic produced each year are disposed of within a year. At that rate there could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Developing countries such as China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam contribute up to 60% of the plastics waste drifting in the world’s sea. Much of the plastic is trapped in the South China Sea for two years before drifting out to the Pacific Ocean. The plastic problem has increased as Chinese recyclers have relocated to Southeast Asia and began importing waste from all over the world. The imported plastics are cheap and clean, outcompeting the dirty plastics collected locally from the tides. The recycled plastic price dropped to unprecedented level in 2017, discouraging plastic scavenging by locals. This thesis empowers the waste pickers by designing structures that incentivize plastic recycling. The thesis proposes that the plastic tides can be mined, shredded, cleaned, dried, baked, and cooled in an efficient and holistic landscape system.

Keywords

Recycling / Crafting Plastics / Plastic Garbage Patch / Waste Management

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2018 Higher Education Press