This Australia Day weekend I was able to travel to Timor Leste to review our  initial PAAR  marine plastics recycling project. Located on the island of Atauro.  

Massive Trade Wind Marine Waste - 80% from 3 suppliers
Over the past three years significant work has been done  to build local community awareness of plastic waste and today  locals' teams collect marine plastic for recording in Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI).  To date, records show  80% of the recovered marine plastic waste originates from just three suppliers.  In one 500m section of the beach the community have collected more than 2.5 tonnes of plastic waste (see photos).

Installing Precious Plastics 4 open source machines 6 Degrees from the equator
Each of the 4 machines are built using open-source mechanical designs created by precious plastics. Our machines were built  by a small engineering shop in Indonesia, under the supervision of PAAR junior engineers.

In October 2019, this set of simple plastic recycling machines was transported to the Arturo Island and established within a purpose  built recycling facility.  

Upcycling marine waste into domestic products that are sold to tourists
With the machines in place, Arturo community leader Barry Hinton engages local women to work alongside environmental  scientists and volunteers to assess, record, clean and then sort the marine waste into coloured  material for upcycling.

Each item sold provides a daily wage and a sustainable income
​Currently the emphasis is on the upcycled creation of chalices, bowls and small plastic tile. These simple craft pieces are sold to tourists and visitors. The sale of  one item provides a sustainable daily wage for local women.

​Preparing to build more assets
 In the months ahead, as the team become more skilled, and new moulds are created, functional items including rulers for local schools will be produced ...  along with an expansion in the range of plastic harvested.
  
Funding  two more machines
Plastic As A Resource (paar) is now working to raise funds for a high speed shredder and extruder that will allow the community to produce beams, pipes and larger components to allow them to make furniture, guttering and other building materials.   If you'd like to help, click here to be taken to the Facebook Fundraiser.

Notes: The carbon cost of PAAR travel & logistics are  matched 100% with offsets via goldstandard.org

Ever heard about the UNs Sustainable Development Goals?    If you are lucky enough to still be on holidays, take an hour or so, and visit the UN SDG website ... they have developed a large amount of content ... synthesised to suit the time poor and those of us who want all the science, facts and detail.

In this short post, I just wanted to draw upon SDG 12 to help explain the connection between the Plastics As A Resource framework, and one of the 17 United Nations Sustainability Goals.   The infographic to the right paints a pretty clear picture that we are currently living beyond our means ... consuming more than is sustainable.   It is on this basis that we really believe that the days of an open loop supply chain for plastics must end.

Certainly, we fully support the migration from plastic to alternate, biogradable alternates, but it is the fact that developing countries require 5 times more natural resource for the same economic output that concerns us.   Without the sophisticated infrastructure, developing nations are typically last to benefit from new technologies (they don't have the means to fund the change), and they suffer from a 'plastic debt' that continues to grow.   These nations need our help, and the best way to do this is to establish a circular supply chain for plastic ... there is no waste only resource.  

At PAAR, our first priorities are to provide the infrastructure developing nations need produce high value goods from an abundant and free resource.