Ocean Plastic waste

Turning the tide on polluted seas and waterways

MYGroup is transforming how ocean plastic waste is recovered, recycled and reused, offering an end-to-end solution to support the capture of material from seas, coasts, and inland waterways, before transforming it into new products. Through partnerships across the UK and beyond, MYGroup combines on-the-ground and ocean-bound recovery with advanced recycling and remanufacturing capabilities, ensuring zero waste to landfill and maximum resource recovery.

Facing up to our landfill on the seas

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Over five trillion pieces of plastic, predominantly originating on land, are estimated to be floating in the world’s oceans.

Waste plastic entering and remaining in the world’s oceans is one of the most urgent and shocking environmental emergencies of our time, whether for the biodiversity of the millions of species that inhabit the seas, food security – or even human life itself.

Over-production and consumption of goods, combined with ineffective or inadequate recycling policy and infrastructure, have led to marine ecosystems becoming an end-stage dumping ground for waste plastic.

Every year, eight to 14 million tons of plastic waste enters the world’s seas – the equivalent volume of around seven building waste skips every minute. The death of one million sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals, turtles and fish each year can be attributed to plastic.

In the UK, an estimated 70% of all beach litter is plastic. 5,000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles can be found on each mile of UK coastline, with this waste having also often travelled through rivers and other water courses before it reaches estuaries and coastal waters. Every animal washed up on British shores has plastic in its gut.

Ocean plastic doesn’t just threaten marine life. Oceans regulate the climate, produce half of the world’s oxygen and capture 40% of all CO2 on earth. Human ingestion of microplastics, increasingly being found in bloodstreams and even brains, is largely attributed to fish and seafood consumption. Oceans also critically power global trade through industries such as fishing, shipping and tourism, providing livelihoods for millions.

The main contributors to ocean plastic waste are:

consumer single-use plastics, including bottles, bags and other packaging
lost or discarded fishing equipment – ‘ghost gear’ made of synthetic polymers, such as nets, lines and buoys
Microplastics
- Primary, from microbeads in personal care products to synthetic fibres in textiles
- Secondary, produced from a myriad of items as they degrade.

Awareness of the scale and severity of the ocean plastic crisis is growing. The UN is pushing to end plastic pollution by 2040 through its Global Plastics Treaty, accelerated by the impact on marine environments, while in the UK, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is forcing companies to take responsibility for waste management and recycling.

Businesses, as well as industry and public bodies, are now expected to take meaningful responsibility for the plastic they use – and where it ends up.

Our solution: A sea change in ocean plastic waste management

Recovery and collection, from beaches to inland waterways

MYGroup offers a closed-loop ocean plastic waste management and recycling solution, managed fully in-house from collection to final resource recovery.

The company plays an active role in the recovery and collection of ocean plastic through a growing network of partnerships and on-the-ground initiatives across the UK. This includes the regular coordination and participation in beach cleans and off-shore recovery work using boats, particularly around island communities. The company also supports the collection of plastic from inland waterways such as rivers, canals and lakes.

All recovered material is transported to MYGroup’s specialist plastic recovery and recycling facility in Hull, where it is sorted, cleaned and processed.

Charting new shores for ocean plastic clean-up and recycling in Sri Lanka

As part of the company’s wider sustainable production and manufacturing initiative in Sri Lanka, MYGroup is establishing a coastal materials recycling hub focused on ocean plastic in Hikkaduwa, in the country’s Southern Province. Sri Lanka is a top-five contributor to ocean plastic pollution, worldwide.

MYGroup is building local, fair-wage partnerships with communities near to the hub for the collection and recycling of waste. This will include beach clean-ups, as well as engaging fishermen to support clean-up efforts of ocean-bound plastic out to sea.

Recovered materials will be recycled and repurposed at the Hikkaduwa hub using injection moulding technology to create new products sold into local and tourist markets, such as surf wax combs (see image).

In time, MYGroup hopes to build closer ties with Sri Lankan authorities to unlock further opportunities for local investment and employment. This could include a hub for the production and distribution of MYBoard.

Surf Comb made from collected ocean plastics

What ocean plastic waste can MYGroup recycle?

Our ocean plastic waste management and recycling solution ensures the safe and effective processing of a wide spectrum of single-use products, materials and packaging.

Consumer single-use plastic

Plastic bags

Plastic bottles and lids found in the ocean

Bottles (inc. caps & lids)

Packaging (inc. soft wraps & films)

Ocean plastic recycling - food containers

Food & takeaway containers (inc. straws & cups)

Fishing equipment (Ghost Gear)

Nets

Ocean plastic recycling - lines and ropes

Lines & ropes

Ocean plastic recycling - buoys and floats

Buoys & floats

Pots & traps (e.g. lobster or crab)

Ocean plastic recycling - bait boxes and containers

Bait boxes & containers

Personal & sanitary care

Ocean plastic recycling - cosmetics products

Health, beauty & cosmetic products

Wet wipes

Cotton buds

Tampons, applicators & pads

Nappies

General & Household

Toys

Cigarette butts

Hangers

Ocean plastic recycling - kitchen and garden items

Kitchen & garden items

Textiles

Ocean plastic recycling - nylon, polyester etc

Garments (polyester, nylon and other microfibres)

Carpets & upholstery

Transforming waste into raw materials and new products

MYGroup sees things differently from other waste management operators: ocean plastic waste isn’t just something to dispose of – it’s a valuable resource, waiting to be recovered and put to good use.

Ocean plastic waste items arriving at the Hull facility undergoes quarantining before manual and mechanical sorting to remove secondary materials for reuse or repurpose elsewhere, including the manufacture of new materials and products by MYGroup’s ReFactory™ team.

Polypropylene and polyethylene separated and segregated during the plastics sorting process are used to create a wide variety of refined, injection-moulded plastic products – from hair combs to Christmas decorations.

Any remaining plastic is subjected to a thorough washing and shredding process that also captures microplastics, before production into OceanBoard™, a variant of MYGroup’s MYboard™ solution for ‘unrecyclable’ plastic formed entirely from material recovered from oceans and waterways. OceanBoard, like MYboard, is a durable, plywood-like material made from shredded, heated and pressed plastic waste, with a wide range of applications, from construction, joinery and events to shop fitting, as well as the manufacture of furniture for the home, commercial spaces and community settings, such as schools.

Every stage of MYGroup’s ocean plastic waste solution is fully transparent, with detailed data reporting available to support EPR compliance, as well as broader ESG and CSR goals. The ReFactory team aslso collaborates with clients and partners on closed-loop recovery projects that turn waste collected through a client or partner scheme into bespoke products, installations and more, tailored for a range of uses, from marketing to employee engagement.

Why choose MYGroup for ocean plastic waste?

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Fully in-house process – from collection to recycling & remanufacture

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Long-standing in-house expertise in coastal & ocean-bound clean-ups

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Zero waste material to incineration or landfill with option for bespoke closed-loop recovery projects

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Advanced, leading edge processes recycling full spectrum of ocean waste, inc. non-plastic

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Established partner to leading organisations in ocean and waterway conservation

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Transparent reporting for EPR compliance, ESG & CSR initiatives

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Ocean plastic waste is not a niche environmental concern, it’s a systemic crisis requiring decisive action across policy, industry and society. Supporting the fight, MYGroup offers the only truly circular recovery and recycling solution – trusted by leading marine recovery organisations – targeting plastic polluting seas, coasts and inland waterways, in whatever form it takes.

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