France
Support granted
Technical assistance services
Foundation Partner
since 2020
Partner website
Context:
Every minute, 19 tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean, which is the equivalent of a garbage truck. The consequences for fauna, flora and human health are irremediable. It has, therefore, become urgent to act! But how do we stimulate the movement? By giving everyone the means to engage at their local level, and by reconciling planetary plastic challenges with daily life.
The company:
Plastic Odyssey aims to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean while creating a global network of local recycling initiatives. The project is supported by various actors who all share the desire to build a world in which plastic waste does not end up in the Ocean.
Impact:
Plastic Odyssey supports local entrepreneurs in the development of small recycling plants. These micro-enterprises could generate thousands of jobs in developing countries and would stimulate the transformation of plastic waste into valuable and sustainable resources for local inhabitants.
News
Solidarity Bankers and Plastic Odyssey: missions to be filled in Egypt and Morocco
THE PLASTIC ODYSSEY ADVENTURE
Every minute, 19 metric tons of plastic enter our oceans and 80% of marine pollution comes from coastal towns and cities in the world’s poorest countries. In the face of this global challenge, Plastic Odyssey aims to make recycling plastic waste into a profitable business that creates new jobs.
The project is based on a round-the-world voyage aboard a boat that acts as an ambassador for open-source recycling technologies. The boat will be making stops in emerging countries where these solutions will be used to recycle available waste to help create and grow plastic recycling microbusinesses. The expedition is due to set sail at the end of January 2021.
Crédit Agricole S.A., CA Regional Banks and subsidiaries support the project since 2018 by financing the construction of a prototype boat and the expedition with €1.2 million over 5 years. Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation supports Plastic Odyssey in the development of its business model and the project of structuring a social impact recycling branch during the expedition.
MISSIONS TO BE FILLED IN EGYPT AND MOROCCO
Plastic Odyssey will start its journey through the Mediterranean Sea, and needs to update its knowledge of the plastic waste value chain and to identify partnerships opportunities with social entrepreneurs. In the framework of the Solidarity Bankers Programme, Crédit Agricole SA and Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, publish two missions to support Plastic Odyssey’s development. The missions are open only to Crédit Agricole employees based in Egypt and Morocco.
The Solidarity Bankers’ objectives will be to identify the key actors of the plastic recycling value chain in Egypt and Morocco, to analyze the business model of targeted social enterprises and their success factors and to identify development opportunities for Plastic Odyssey.
The duration of each mission is one day per week for sixteen weeks, which can be during the Solidarity bankers’ working time (skill-based sponsorship by the Solidarity bankers’ employers) and/or holidays (volunteering). The missions can be done in pairs or by a team of expert of Crédit Agricole based in Egypt and Morocco. The mission in Egypt will take place from the last quarter 2020 and the mission in Morocco in the first quarter 2021.
APPLY TO THE MISSION IN EGYPT
APPLY TO THE MISSION IN MOROCCO
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(1) Alpes Provence, Aquitaine, Atlantique Vendée, Charente-Maritime Deux-Sèvres, Finistère, Nord de France, Normandie-Seine and Provence Côte d’Azur
(2) CA Assurances, CACEIS, Crédit Agricole CIB, CA Immobilier, BforBank, CAMCA Mutuelle, Crédit Agricole Poland and Crédit Agricole Italy
Plastic Odyssey and Crédit Agricole renew their partnership
19 tons of plastic enter the ocean every minute. Yet this waste can be an invaluable resource! Make recycling this waste a profitable and job-generating activity: this is the bet of the Plastic Odyssey team. Merchant navy officers, sales manager and engineer, these young entrepreneurs decided to build an ambitious project to raise awareness of recycling plastic waste and share know-how for emerging countries.
A shipping to share low-tech and open-source plastic recycling technologies
For 3 years, the Plastic Odyssey team will sail the seas of the world on a ship to fight against plastic pollution. The expedition will stop in emerging countries to encourage local waste reduction initiatives and the creation of small recycling plants. At each stopover, Plastic Odyssey will share low-tech and open-source recycling technologies to promote the development of micro-entrepreneurship and the circular economy. Training in sorting and recycling plastics will also be offered.
This project does not aim to collect the plastic present in the oceans but to act upstream, by working with the local populations on depolluting solutions, so that the terrestrial waste does not end up in the oceans.
The first ship that advances thanks to recycled plastic
The ship will be ready to go in the second half of 2020. Measuring 40 meters in length, it will operate using fuel made from plastic waste thanks to a pyrolysis plant installed at the rear of the boat: a great first in the field of navigation.
For 3 years, he will successively travel the coasts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans, encourage the reduction of plastic and its recycling and transform plastic waste into resources.
The fight against plastic pollution: a major social issue
The fight against plastic pollution is a concern that Crédit Agricole shares with Plastic Odyssey. The Group was already a partner of Plastic Odyssey in 2018, during the prototyping phase of the project. Crédit Agricole, via 16 entities (1), is continuing this commitment by supporting Plastic Odyssey’s approach with € 1.2 million over 5 years. The support provided for this expedition is in line with the Societal Project of the Crédit Agricole Group.
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(1) 7 Regional Banks (Alpes Provence, Aquitaine, Atlantique Vendée, Charente-Maritime Deux-Sèvres, Finistère, Normandie Seine, Provence Côte d’Azur), BforBank, CAMCA Mutuelle, Crédit Agricole Assurances, CACEIS, Crédit Agricole CIB, Crédit Agricole Immobilier, Crédit Agricole S.A., Crédit Agricole Pologne and Crédit Agricole Italie..
Crédit Agricole sponsors Plastic Odyssey expedition
What is this project about?
The Plastic Odyssey project is based on the following goal: to collect plastic waste on the coasts before it pollutes the oceans, and transform it into fuel, thanks to an innovative process adapting pyrolysis technology for use by shipping. Once this has been achieved, Plastic Odyssey could provide this technology to the local populations in emerging countries, with an impact on the environment and also on job creation.
Who’s involved?
Crédit Agricole S.A., five Regional Banks* and CAMCA Mutuelle are sponsors, for a total of €115,000, with support from the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation.
What are the next steps?
The prototype, Ulysse, will be launched at Concarneau on 15 June, and will be on display for six months. This is a miniature copy of the ship that will put to sea in 2020. The second step will include building the ship, followed by a three-year voyage stopping at 30 ports of call in South America, Africa and Asia.
* Aquitaine, Finistère, Normandie, Normandie-Seine, Provence Côte d’Azur
