Plastic becomes a problem mainly when it’s in the wrong place – and it’s an avoidable problem. That’s why we’ve taken the initiative to establish the project «Safe Harbour – from plastic waste to resource».
The basic objective is to reduce the amount of plastic waste from the fishing and aquaculture industries. A key to achieving this is establishing first-rate facilities for receiving plastic waste in the harbours. The next link in the chain is waste management companies. There, the goal is to increase the proportion of plastic waste that can be recycled. Within the recycling economy, producers and suppliers play an increasingly important role, and can lead by example. Many of the products delivered to the fishing and aquaculture industries cannot be reused, or lack durability. Improved versions of these products would contribute toward increasing the recycling rate – and offer the industries economic advantages by reducing the amount of plastic used in their own production. In other words, «from waste to resource».
The project is financed through a cooperative agreement with REV Ocean. The agreement entails annual transfer of funds from REV Ocean to the Centre for the Ocean and the Arctic, totalling 1.5 million Norwegian kroner over four years.
The project is still at the start-up phase. Follow along here for more information, or contact our expert on plastics, Anne Katrine Normann.