Words by Smiley Team
Plastic bottles, toys, flipflops, ropes: these are just some of the items swept up by the nets of fishermen on the Kollam coast in India’s southern state of Kerala. But rather than chucking the waste back in the water, they are collecting it and offering it new life.
The fishermen drop off the plastic onshore where it is processed, fed through a shredding machine and sold on to road builders. Their work contributes to a 2017 Clean Sea scheme set up by the Indian government’s harbour engineering department who provided porous bags to the fishermen to collect waste and help tidy up the coastal waters.
Peter Mathias, president of the All Kerala Fishing Boat Operators’ Association, told the Guardian: “Previously, we didn’t care much about the plastic we collected in our nets. We’d simply take the fish and toss the rest back into the ocean. But not any more – we’re now protecting the ocean to save our livelihoods.”
Since they started the initiative, the fishermen have collected roughly 80,000kg of plastic that has gone towards building 135 kilometres of road. By using recycled plastic instead of asphalt, roadbuilders reduce manufacturing costs by around 10 per cent per kilometre of road laid down.
The word has spread of the project’s success, with other fishing communities turning to the government for financial assistance to set up their own plastic recycling projects.
Besides the obvious environmental benefit of reducing ocean pollution, the project has opened up employment opportunities to local women who were traditionally excluded from the fishing and road building industry. After the fishermen deliver their ‘catch’ of plastic waste, the women wash and sort through the rubbish on the beach.
If you’re feeling inspired by the Keralan fishermen, you might consider supporting The Ocean Cleanup. This non-profit organisation offers a technological fix to ocean pollution and is the world’s largest-scale ocean tidying project.
They develop advanced technologies, such as solar-powered plastic extractors, to collect and recycle plastic waste from our waters. Their goal is to remove 90 per cent of plastic in the ocean and they will not stop until they’ve achieved this.
To support The Ocean Cleanup in their mission donate here.
