Odyssey Innovation
Odyssey Innovation est une entreprise britannique de collecte et de recyclage des engins de pêche usagés
Odyssey Innovation is a British company founded in 2014 by Rob Thompson. Its goal is to develop recycling streams for marine plastics, with a focus on collecting them before they reach the marine environment, in order to reintegrate them into a circular economy.
To achieve this goal, the company offers a free recycling service to various organizations committed to protecting coastlines and marine environments, such as conservation groups, beach cleanup groups, marinas, local governments, diving clubs, and water sports organizations.
At the time of collection, the materials must be clean, free of biofouling (marine organisms attached to the waste), and stripped of all non-recyclable components. Participants then submit photographs of the waste along with an estimate of its weight. Odyssey Innovation then directs them to its sorting center in Exeter or to the nearest collection point. The collected plastics are then recycled and transformed into new products (e.g., kayaks, bodyboards, storage bins, and recycling bins), thereby contributing to the development of the circular economy while reducing marine pollution.
The only contribution requested from partners is to cover the cost of transporting the waste to the collection point. The company then handles the sorting, recycling, and recovery of the materials free of charge. Additional fees are charged only if the waste is sent in a condition that makes it unsuitable for recycling.
Type of waste : Various types of fishing gear
Waste quantity : 200,000 kg of end-of-life fishing gear
Infos
Project manager: Odyssey InnovationLocation(s): Great Britain
Duration: Since 2014
Funding: Through the sale of “plastic credits”
Results
Odyssey Innovation’s waste collection network now covers most of the ports between Dover and Birkenhead. More recently, the company has expanded its operations to Scotland and is now the only fishing net recycling service in the United Kingdom to have collected and recycled more than 200,000 kg of end-of-life nets.
Its founder, Rob Thompson, was also appointed Climate Change Ambassador during COP26.
Initiatives to discover
initiative(s)
FILIPECH
The FILIPECH project has taken two main actions: the establishment of the producer responsability organisation dedicated to the management of end-of-life fishing gear, and the carrying out of new experiments in four ports to test and improve the collection and recovery of used HDPE trawls
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Gravity Wave
Gravity Wave is a social start-up based in Spain. committed to combating marine pollution through a circular economy model.
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IFF Plastics
IFF Plastics in Co. Clare, Ireland worked together with BIM to investigate if retired fishing nets from ports could be recycled into a material to create products such as fence posts.
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Oyster Bag Waste Management
Studies and trials have been carried out on managing waste aquaculture gear, determining the feasibility of disposal of end of life gear through recycling and other systems in comparison to other disposal strategies such as landfill.
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Repêchons les Océans
Founded in Spain in 2015, the international network Upcycling the Oceans transforms marine waste into resources through innovation and the circular economy.
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Repescaplas
The initiative aimed at mitigating the impact of marine litter, particularly plastic waste, through its recovery, characterisation, and valorisation into useful products.
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SAO Textile
SAO is a French mission-driven company founded in February 2023. It is dedicated to recycling used fishing nets into eco-friendly textiles.
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