Plastic waste endangers the environment, especially marine ecosystems, to a considerable extent. In 2014 alone, more than 300 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide. It is estimated that every year, roughly 10 million tons of this plastic end up in the ocean due to environmentally-unsound disposal systems. The problem is particularly serious in coastal areas, especially where no functional collection system for plastic waste exists.

Currently there is no method capable of decreasing the amount of plastic waste in the ocean in an economically and technologically feasible fashion; that means that the amount of plastics in the marine ecosystem is steadily increasing and will continue to grow in the upcoming decades. The amount of plastic waste entering marine ecosystems is largely dependent on the development of efficient waste collection and recycling systems.

Indeed a relevant reutilization system for plastic waste is lack in most less developed countries, also due to missing infrastructure and unstable political conditions. As a result, the value chains for the recovery of plastic waste are disrupted and valuable plastics are released into the environment. Particularly in coastal areas, this reusable waste is one of the main sources of plastic waste found in the ocean, which is a significant source of marine input.

Therefore, new solutions for reducing the input of plastics into the environment have to be developed…