Hey there, swrmers! Welcome back to the Hive! Today, we’re talking plastic. Some facts: If you didn’t know, plastic is made from petroleum. About 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since the 1950s, which is roughly the weight of a billion elephants or 47 million blue whales. And only about 9% of that plastic has ever been recycled, 12% has been burned and the remaining 79% has ended up in landfills or the environment.
Plastic pollution is the most widespread problem affecting our marine environments. It threatens ocean health, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.
The good news is, innovative new science is fighting to figure out a way to deal with all of the plastic pollution currently in our environment and prevent more from ending up there. So, today, we’re here with Trévon Gordon. He is the founder and CEO of Vader NanoTechnologies, a company doing amazing work in the science and environmental space. Their project “Green Quorum” is creating enzymes and organisms to literally eat plastic pollution!
