8 million problems a day
Each day, around 8 million pieces of plastic are estimated to make their way into the world’s oceans. Which is how in 2020 we’ve reached a staggering 5 trillion pieces of plastic, from large to tiny, in our oceans.
The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste every year. 50% of this is single-use plastic. And only 9% has ever been recycled.
The scale of the problem we face is terrifying. But Kelpi is launching at a time where we cannot afford to be daunted by this – where we have to use scientific innovation to address the problem.
Starting now to make marine-safe bioplastic packaging from seaweed will not address the existing problem that is already in our oceans today. But we can play our part in ensuring the problem does not get greater. We’re targeting rates of biodegradation in salt water that will mean that even where Kelpi packaging is washed out to sea, it should readily decompose.
We’re one of a huge wave of innovative new biotech businesses looking to address plastic pollution and mitigate climate change. Kelpi’s team comprises brilliant scientists pushing at the leading edge of research in this area to bring new products to market.
Right now there are 5000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles for each mile of beach in the UK. Kelpi is working towards a goal of seaweed, not fossil-fuel plastic, being one of the defining aspects of our coastline.
Photo by Dustan Woodhouse on Unsplash