Why one engineer thinks we need to change our attitude towards plastic
We have all read the doom-laden headlines these past few years about how our planet is drowning in plastic litter and microplastics . It would seem that every other day some environmentalist around the world is spouting words on just how evil and nasty it is .
And while you can ’ t argue about some of the hard evidence out there , namely that plastic pollution has been found in even the most remote of places ; including Mount Everest , the Mariana Trench and the Arctic , one British engineer thinks plastic does not deserve the bad rap it ’ s been getting . In fact , he argues that part of the problem lies more with misinformation and how people use the material .
Meet Richard Pike , his company Gemini , based just outside Oxford , is in the business of prototype design and manufacturing . By its very nature it operates using predominantly plastic on an industrial scale – and has been since he formed it with his wife back in 1999 – so Richard understands just how complex the situation is and that you can ’ t really blame one person or organisation ; nothing is black and white . Case in point : despite his profession , he actually cares about the environment and goes diving in his spare time .
“ I ’ ve been diving for eight years , and I love it . It helps me to relax ,” Richard commented . “ When you ’ re down there , you only think about what ’ s in front of you , nothing else , it ’ s amazing . Another reason why I love it is that you get to see how marine life interacts with its environment , like how a shipwreck has changed over the years .”
Despite being a keen diver for this amount of time , and is a member of PADI ( professional association of diving instructors ) and BSAC ( British sub aqua club ), he said that he hadn ’ t seen any clear indication
20 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk of plastic pollution in the sea – but admits that plastics and other litter in the sea , like discarded fishing nets , are obviously a problem .
“ The reason fishermen discard nets is that , over time , they become more opaque and more visible to the fish so their yields go down – not because of the nylon degrading .” Richard then pointed towards the issue of infrastructure around recycling the nets . “ Another reason some fishermen are throwing away old nets is that in many parts of the world there simply isn ’ t anything in place for recycling the nets , probably because of economic factors , so we need to look at this and at the cost of recycling .”
Interestingly enough , two UKbased organisations have been set up in recent years to help combat this situation , which , according to the United Nations , has seen over 640,000 tonnes of nets , lines and pots used in commercial fishing dumped in the seas globally .
Odyssey Innovation ’ s Net Regeneration Scheme has been running since 2016 – and has been responsible for over 200,000 kilograms of end-of-life nets being recovered and recycled back into the circular economy , with most harbours around the British Isles involved . This operation has gone from strength to strength and has seen major backing from supermarket chain Morrisons , plus , since 2020 , Exeter City Council has been playing a key part with providing a sorting facility .
The other major UK marine recycling operation is the Ocean Recovery Project . This involves environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy – they ’ ve teamed up with plastic processing experts Multispeed and have recycled over 40 tonnes of trawl net into plastic pellets that can be resold to the market . To date , Brixham harbour has been one of the biggest contributors , however Scarborough , Whitby and Dunbar in Scotland are also part of the project .
Alongside these relatively recent marine recycling schemes , other exciting developments have been happening including one that Richard ’ s Gemini company first noticed and wrote about on