180 tonnes of plastic waste recovered
Since 2016 we have collected the equivalent of six humpback whale's weight in plastic
more than 5,000 bodyboards recycled
Every year, Ocean Recovery Project collects broken body boards that have been dumped by holiday-makers
40 tonnes of fishing nets recycled
The Ocean Recovery Projects works with harbours and the fishing industry to collect and recycle old nets
In 2016, Keep Britain Tidy embarked on a ground-breaking project to recycle litter collected by volunteers on our beach cleans. After completing more than 1,200 beach cleans in Devon and Cornwall we saw a need to help volunteer groups recycle beach litter.
Since the inception of the Ocean Recovery Project in 2016, the project has recovered more than 180 tonnes of marine plastic waste, equivalent to the weight of six humpback whales.
The recovered materials are processed into plastic pellets, which are then used to create various products, including benches and sound boards for events. The project also engages with local communities to promote recycling and reduce plastic pollution in the oceans.
Keep Britain TidyOur aim is to empower beach cleaners, increase recycling rates and develop new techniques for recycling ‘hard to recycle’ plastics.
Recycling mixed plastics from the beach is challenging. We have worked with a wide variety partners and organisations to help us in achieving traceable sustainable solutions for recycling ocean plastics. We have helped many groups, organisations and businesses to recycle plastic and create products.
Our aim is to empower beach cleaners, increase recycling rates and develop new techniques for recycling ‘hard to recycle’ plastics.
Importantly, we try to keep the carbon footprint associated with transporting and processing plastics as low as possible.
More about the Ocean Recovery Project
We are proud to have helped develop the first UK system for processing fishing trawl nets. Whether collected from harbours, beaches or even the seabed, we take these giant nets and work with our recycling partner Milspeed to provide a recycled plastic pellet to UK industry.
We collect nets washed up on beaches, as well as more than 40 tonnes of nets from the UK’s biggest fishing harbour, Brixham.
These nets have aided the development of a new system with Milspeed that will help the UK fishing industry and also make a meaningful contribution to the circular economy. Prior to this, fishing nets, which are challenging to recycle, had to be shipped to Europe to be processed. Now there is a fully traceable UK system from beach or harbour to recycled pellet.
This work was made possible thanks to support from The Scottish Power Foundation and the Swire Charitable Trust.
If you are an organisation or local authority that would like to discuss how you could be a part of this exciting work, you can contact us to find out more
In 2010, we were the first to highlight the issue of cheap disposable bodyboards, which break easily and then are abandoned to blight our beaches, pollute our seas and create huge amounts of waste.
Disposable bodyboards are typically shipped across the globe for a few hours use before being dumped. Our #WaveOfWaste campaign received national media coverage and has led to huge awareness of the issue. Over the years we have recycled more than 5,000 broken boards into packaging, insulation, under-floor cushioning, dresses, cushions, bags and even bee hives.
In 2019, we were thrilled to partner Orca Sound project to create a giant stage made from recycled plastic collected from beaches, fish harbours and other community clean-ups. Instead of polluting our environment, this plastic made up part of Shangri-La’s 360-degree audio-visual arena - The Gas Tower – at the Glastonbury Festival.
We are working with schools in the South-West to teach young people about the circular economy. We host local schools for educational beach cleans and donate a bench back to them, which is made from the beach plastic they collect. The plastic is recovered, shredded, melted and then extruded into a sturdy recycled bench. The manufacturing is completed in Exeter by Devon Contract Waste.
Find out more
Tackling plastic pollution
Since Sir David Attenborough highlighted the issue of marine plastic in Blue Planet II in 2017, more and more people have become concerned about the volume of plastic in our rivers and seas and its impact on marine life.
Recycling
The concept of recycling isn’t new, in fact, the idea of the conservation of materials has been around for centuries. Today each and everyone of us can do our bit at home thanks to kerbside recycling. But, despite the ease with which we can recycle, recycling rates have flatlined in recent years.
Great British Spring Clean Welcome
The Great British Spring Clean is the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign. Each year, more than 400,000 volunteers clear litter from our streets, parks and beaches.