Can We Say Goodbye to Marine Plastic? Sea Sweepers Might be the Answer
Published: May 7, 2025 Updated: October 1, 2024
If you’ve been following the trends, then you know that plastic waste is a problem for our oceans. You also know that traditional recycling systems can't handle the waste because of the contaminants, limited infrastructure, and bad recycling habits. This is why we need specialized recycling centers to deal with materials like nets and fishing supplies.
Enter Sea Sweepers...
Sea Sweepers is a newer company that’s on a mission to build the first U.S.-based marine plastics recycling center. While most innovate process have been coming from Europe, they’re helping to put the US on the map when it comes to cool yet much needed recycling infrastructure on this side of the hemisphere. In our research, we found out that Sea Sweepers is all about cleaning up ocean plastic pollution AND helping businesses create sustainable products! Cool right?
You might be asking yourself, well...how do they do it?
Sea Sweepers teams up with ocean conservation non-profits and local governments to collect those pesky marine plastics we all love to hate. The company uses blockchain technology to log and track every piece of plastic collected, ensuring transparency and accountability – two things that make their company even cooler. Once the plastic is collected, they are sent to the Sea Sweepers recycling facility in Florida. There, items like nets and plastic pieces are cleaned, prepped, crushed, ground, and sorted.
After this process, the cleaned plastic is melted down and chopped into small pellets that can be used to make all kinds of consumer goods! Their method not only tackles marine plastic pollution but also supports a circular economy – which of course, is a big win.
Solving marine plastic pollution isn't something that can happen overnight, but companies like Sea Sweepers are paving the way with innovative solutions. By reimagining the plastics supply chain and creating specialized recycling centers, Sea Sweepers is making progress towards less plastic waste in our oceans.
