This month, CTC started a partnership with OceanCycle (OC) to support their project in Indonesia. OC is a social enterprise reimagining the circular economy through sourcing, certifying, and reusing materials to prevent ocean plastic pollution, and make it easy for companies to integrate ocean-bound plastics into their products.

OC puts an emphasis on preventing ocean plastic pollution by giving a value to plastics so people will stop throwing plastics away improperly. Also, once plastic is in the water it gets degraded by salt and light, and loses its value due to degraded plastic being difficult to recycle.

OceanCycle focuses on areas within 50 km of the coast with mismanaged waste where if material is not collected it will likely end up in the ocean. They then track the material through the supply chain to ensure brands and manufacturers know the material is truly ocean-bound and ethically collected. OC also shows their partner brands where the material is collected and communicates the needs of the community so their philanthropy and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs can be directed to the people and communities directly involved in supplying material for their products.

The projects that CTC supports focus on community engagement and data collection at their certified collection centers and surrounding communities. The data collected focuses on the plastic pickers, collection center workers, center managers and community members to help understand barriers to plastic collection and community needs.

The collected data also gives baseline information about the landscape, practices and attitudes towards plastic recycling and waste management. With this information, OC helps to implement solutions to best support the community increase recycling rates and ensure benefits to the community such as more jobs and income to support their families.

Robert Goodwin, Co-founder of OceanCycle said “We are so proud to work with CTC given their care for the ocean and focus on educating people on proper ocean health. Waste management is key to keeping our oceans clean and protecting our coral reefs”.