Today's News |
Delta-Based Ocean Legacy Technologies Receives $360,000 Funding From Government of Canada to Build Marine Plastics Processing Facility
Friday, June 12, 2020
Vancouver, BC, June 12, 2020--(T-Net)--Ocean Legacy Technologies from British Columbia will receive $360,000 from the Government of Canada to build a small marine plastics processing facility to enhance current efforts in marine plastic recovery and recycling.
Using innovative technologies, this facility will allow select plastic materials from fishing and aquaculture sectors to be repurposed and recycled, including plastics with some organic or non-organic contamination, and some found during shoreline clean-ups.
The unique program bridges partnerships between business, industry, government and non-profit sectors to take critical steps forward to create a value chain in an emerging ocean plastics industry.
The over $2 million in funding for Ocean Legacy Technologies (and 3 other Canadian companies) is part of the second phase of the domestic plastics challenges under the Innovative Solutions Canada program, which invited Canadian small businesses to develop innovative technologies to reduce plastic waste and keep valuable resources circulating in our economy.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada's plastic challenges looked specifically for 'Made in Canada' innovations to protect marine environments and wildlife, and to foster sustainable economic prosperity for future generations.
Over eight million metric tons of plastic end up in the world's oceans each year—including lost and abandoned fishing gear, also known as ghost gear. The billions of items of plastic waste, like ghost gear, harm marine animals like whales and turtles, the coastal and marine environment, and global fishing stocks.
About The Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF)
The Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF) is a Canadian based non-profit organization that was founded in 2013 with the goal to end ocean plastic waste. The foundation is led by co-founders Chloe Dubois and James Middleton, and is supported by a board of directors, technical advisory committee and hundreds of volunteers worldwide.
As an internationally recognized leader in plastic pollution response, OLF has rebranded their dynamic approach and solution-based platform in combatting plastic pollution under the new program title of EPIC on June 8th, 2019 during World Ocean Day. In collaboration with Nestlé Waters Global, this international plastic management strategy will integrate existing and futuristic elements from OLF's four pillars: Education & Research, Policy and Advocacy, Infrastructure Development and Cleanup & Restoration, to catalyze world-wide action around plastic pollution-free lands and oceans.
The purpose of the Plastic Pollution Emergency Response program is to target ecologically sensitive geographical locations and communities that have a plastic pollution crisis, as well as inadequate management capacity for solid waste and plastic pollution. The goal of the program is to create an accessible platform to assist with the restoration of critical natural ecosystems for improved human and wildlife health, as well as assess and develop long-term plastic collection, processing infrastructure and policy to mitigate oceanic plastic pollution sources.
The OLF will work with communities that are in a plastic pollution crisis through an Emergency Management System (EMS) that incorporates mitigation, prevention, response and recovery measures. The EMS will take a systematic approach towards hazard assessments, identification and strategic planning to minimize the impact of risks to marine life, property, and the environment.
This system provides the foundation for coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability and capacity to mitigate against, prepare and plan for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual plastic disasters. The EMS is supported by the four E.P.I.C. pillars that are interlinked to help guide a community towards sustainable plastic management solutions when faced with a plastic crisis.