ByFusion and Resynergi Team Up with Ocean Voyages Institute, Supporting the Largest Ocean Cleanup in History
OVI Diverts 60,000 lbs of Plastic Waste From the Ocean
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- On June 29, 2020 Ocean Voyages Institute (OVI) completed a 48-day mission to extract plastic marine debris from the ocean which took place in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), located halfway between Hawaii and California. The GPGP is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world, spanning an area twice the size of Texas.
The Kwai, the ship collecting the debris, departed from Hilo, Hawaii on May 4, 2020 and returned to Honolulu, Hawaii. Mary Crowley, the Founder & Executive Director of OVI, spearheaded the plastic cleanup efforts which ultimately removed more than 100 tons of plastic from the Pacific Ocean, the largest collection in history.
"It's an honor to have all these toxic materials out of the ocean," said Crowley. "They'll be recycled and repurposed—nothing will end up in a landfill, nothing will ever go back in the ocean. The ocean is a source of health for us as a planet and for us as human beings. We have to take care of it and provide a healthy habitat for ocean creatures."
Of the debris collected, ByFusion will repurpose 20 tons into approximately 6,000 construction-grade building blocks, which will be used for a variety of construction projects, remote offices, garden sheds, and outdoor community spaces. Resynergi will convert 8 tons into over 1000 gallons of usable fuel.
"We're thrilled to be a part of this important initiative, supporting the incredible work that OVI is doing to clean up the ocean," said Heidi Kujawa, CEO of ByFusion. "Our zero waste process creates a valuable building material from all types of plastic waste, including marine debris and fishing nets, ensuring the plastic is repurposed and put to good use. OVI ByBlocks will be available for purchase later this year to demonstrate to the world what a true circular economy is."
Brian Bauer, CEO of Resynergi added, "Resynergi is proud to be part of the team with OVI and ByFusion in these efforts to address this important environmental issue. Our compact, modular and mobile systems can process the waste plastic reclaimed by OVI at the port, to produce clean, drop-in ready fuel that can be used by OVI. Since our system uses microwave energy, and not incineration, to thermally decompose the plastic, 80% less greenhouse gas emissions are produced when compared to traditional fuel extraction methods."
This record-breaking 100 ton cleanup was the first of many planned voyages focused on the mission of removing one million pounds of plastic waste from the world's oceans.
SOURCE ByFusion Global Inc
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