In an eye-opening revelation from marine researchers, it was found that some of the plastic discarded off the coast of Ireland is more than 50 years old!
Local researchers began unintentionally gathering plastic using devices known as continuous plankton recorders (CPRs).
Ships would tow these devices behind them, capturing samples of plankton, giving a general indication of the productivity of the oceans – as plankton is a key marine species.
However, after finding that they were dredging up heaps of plastic alongside the plankton, the crews decided to make a log of all the various debris they collected over the years.
The devices caught their first piece of discarded plastic all the way back in 1965, highlighting the long life span some of this waste has and the detrimental effect this can have on our oceans.
Here at RTP, we design our packaging and products so that businesses can re-use them and recycle them back into the system.
By doing this we utilize the long life of plastic for functional purposes and don’t allow it to pollute and damage our oceans unnecessarily.