Location - Project is being based in Marseille, France.

Groups Involved - Plasitc Odyssey, L'Occitane En Province, Crédit Agricole, Clarins, Matmut, Enowe, Bioderma Ministèrede la Transition écologique et solidaire, Greentech Innovation, Global Partnership On Marine Litter, Solar Impulse Foundation, and many other patrons.

Background - "The Plastic Odyssey association was founded two years ago by two merchant navy officers and two engineers. Why? They had observed that enormous amounts of plastic on our shores end up in the ocean. Collecting it would seem to be the simplest solution. But in practice, only 1% of plastic waste floats on the surface of the water, the rest sinks and decomposes into microparticles, making it almost impossible to recover. To tackle the root of the problem, we are developing new solutions to turn the waste into useful items, before it gets into the water." (Escales, 2017)

Aims - Starting in 2021, they aim to "Transform Waste Into Valuable Resources Thanks To Efficient Open Source Technologies." (Plastic Odyssey, 2020)

Resources Recycled - Plastics found in the ocean on expeditions will be picked up by the 'Odyssey vessel' where it will be processed on board using the following technologies:

• "The Compacting Machine to Facilitate The Transport of Plastic Waste" ("Plastic waste is deposited in the compactor. By actuating the cylinder, the tabletop becomes lower which strongly compacts the plastic, compressed against the walls of the frame. They then take on a square shape, which creates the plastic ball. All that’s left to do then is to tie the bale up and extract it out from the compactor.") (Plastic Odyssey, 2020).
• "The Shredder To Reduce Plastic Waste Into Smaller Particles" ("Plastic waste is inserted in the shredder from the top via a hopper. They then fall into the cutting chamber, where both the rotor and blades rotate at high speed. These rotating blades intersect with fixed blades, cutting plastic waste like scissors. As long as the plastic particles are too big, they continue to be shredded. When small enough, they reach the grid under the rotor. The grid can be changed to obtain pieces of different sizes.") (Plastic Odyssey, 2020).
• "The Extruder To Convert Plastics Into Objects" ( "Once shredded, washed, and dried, plastic particles are placed in the hopper. They flow progressively into the sheath, heated by the surrounding warm resistors. A worm rotates in the sheath propelling the plastic to its end. The plastic is gradually heated by the sheath’s warmth and its friction with the screw. The initially shredded plastic then becomes a homogeneous soft paste. At the end of the sheath, a die allows the molten plastic to flow out.") (Plastic Odyssey, 2020).

Social Impacts: "The Plastic Odyssey Village is a mobile space that travels from town to city to share knowledge and action tools with the remotest. Easily movable and deployable, the village presents general scientific information on waste, accessible tools to assess environmental pollution, technologies that allow simple transformations of plastic waste into valuable objects, and successful solutions from around the world to reduce our use of plastic. Aboard the Plastic Odyssey vessel, the village will be deployed during stopovers and will engage with local communities from all over the world." (Plastic Odyssey, 2020)

Economic Impacts: "Plastic Odyssey supports the development of small recycling companies in developing countries by training local entrepreneurs, stimulating local employment, and encouraging these regions’ autonomy."

Environmental Impacts: The collection of plastic waste from the ocean will reduce levels of pollution and potentially safe marine life and preserve marine habitats.

References: Escales. 2017. Plastic Odyssey: An Expedition To Fight Plastic Pollution In The Oceans | Magazine PONANT. [online] Available at: [Accessed 19 December 2020].____________________Plastic Odyssey. 2020. The Expedition Around The World To Fight Against Plastic Pollution | Plastic Odyssey. [online] Available at: [Accessed 19 December 2020].