OceanWash - Washes clothes and the sea.

What exactly does that mean?

Our goal is to make a contribution to better use of water and our environment with our company. We do not want to achieve this goal only by producing an environmentally friendly alternative to detergent without plastic.

That’s why OceanWash is not just plastic neutral, but plastic negative. 

Through our partnership with rePurpose Global, we finance the cleanup of our seas, oceans and coasts by 1kg of plastic waste with every pack of OceanWash sold. rePurpose Global is the world's leading action platform against plastic waste and a global association of people and companies committed to reducing waste and restoring the balance of nature. rePurpose Global has created a global system that first recovers plastic waste from nature and then feeds it into various recycling cycles. This creates jobs for people with no prospects in the most affected regions and the plastic waste cannot be returned to nature. The project we are supporting takes place in Chennai, India, a coastal city on the Bay of Bengal. It is called Neela Sapana, which means " the blue dream" in English. In recent decades, the pristine coasts and marine regions around Chennai have been devastated by the spreading plastic pollution.
This pollution harms wildlife and contaminates entire waterways.
The Neela Sapana project aims to collect low-value plastic waste from the sea, beaches and rivers around Chennai in order to protect the Bay of Bengal.

The collected plastic waste is sorted in sorting stations into 35 different types of waste according to their quality and recyclability. One of these types of waste includes fabric softener and liquid detergent bottles. The sorted waste is then compressed and bundled for transport to the recycling stations. Paper waste such as cardboard is also pressed and recycled. A major challenge is the collection of so-called MLP, multi-layer plastic. PET, such as that found in drinks bottles, is easier to recycle than MLP. This is mainly due to the higher prices that recycling centers pay for PET because it is of higher quality than MLP. MLPs such as composite packaging achieve much lower prices or no prices at all because they cannot be recycled. In particular, plastic packaging with a metal coating is almost impossible to recycle because the individual layers cannot be separated.

50% of the waste generated in Indian cities is MLP, which is usually not collected due to its low value and is therefore either illegally burned or disposed of in rivers or sewage systems.

Together with rePurpose Global, we incentivize the collection of MLP to prevent such waste from continuing to end up in rivers or the sea. This MLP waste is then used as an energy source in industry together with other non-recyclable waste in co- processing . According to the Basel Convention, this process is the most environmentally friendly option because energy is recovered from the waste without producing harmful emissions. This not only removes plastic waste from nature, but also saves CO2 emissions by reducing the use of coal as an energy source. rePurpose Global guarantees that the best possible industrial end point is found for this. Another major problem is waste exports. Advanced countries export their waste to poorer countries at low cost. There, this waste is often not recycled properly and is disposed of in illegal dumps in nature. In order to determine where the waste comes from, statistics on its origin are compiled using the printed barcodes.

Together with rePurpose Global, we ensure that the people on site are guaranteed good and safe working conditions. All employees receive free, voluntary health checks and access to medical care for themselves and their families. They are also provided with personal protection items such as masks, gloves and disinfectants. They are provided with uniforms, safety equipment and are provided with hygiene facilities and constant access to clean water. rePurpose Global is responsible for ensuring that these standards are met by being present and checking on site. The more people we can get excited about OceanWash, the more plastic waste will be recovered from nature, or will not end up in nature in the first place. The more poverty in the affected regions will be combated by creating jobs, so that such images will soon be a thing of the past. rePurpose Global gives hope to local people and we are proud to be part of the shared mission to rid our nature of plastic waste. In addition to our greatest possible avoidance of the use of new plastic along the entire value chain, with every pack of OceanWash you buy you contribute to 1kg less plastic waste in the sea. 

Together we stand against the production of new plastic waste and remove existing ones from nature. That is what plastic negative means.

And that’s why OceanWash washes clothes and the sea.

For more information about our partnership with rePurpose Global, our shared goals and impressions of the work to reclaim plastic waste from nature, visit: repurpose.global

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