This ship sails around the world fighting plastic pollution. We take a look inside

Inside Plastic Odyssey an expedition in search of low-cost, sustainable solutions to fight plastic pollution

Chennai’s skies and waters are in a never-ending tussle on who wears the colour blue best. But at the Chennai Port today a first-of-its-kind vessel is docked, its imposing blue-and-white hull inviting curious glances. The vessel, sized somewhere between a ship and a boat looks decidedly out of place among the bulk carriers and container ships that dot the ever-busy port. Not far away is a gaggle of students from St Antony’s Matriculation High School, Pallikaranai, in crisp uniforms, wearing crisper smiles, making their way to the vessel. This is their first time aboard a ship, let alone one with a purpose.

Grandly christened the Plastic Odyssey, this 40-metre long “floating laboratory” is a three-and-half year expedition that set sail from Marseilles, in the South of France, on October 1, 2022, and has since been collecting low-cost, sustainable plastic waste solutions from around the world. These include ideas, innovations and technology that contributes to plastic recycling and reduction. After recent stops at Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia, Plastic Odyssey is on its 31st stopover in Chennai which is also its only stop in India. 

Simon Bernard, a former merchant navy officer whose love for the ocean led him on this expedition says, “India is an amazing stopover for us both in terms of recycling and reduction. India consumes 10 times less plastic than France, that is approximately seven kilograms per person, per year. There is a lot to learn here, the use of stainless steel instead of single-use plastic for instance.” The now-CEO and co-founder reiterates that the expedition is not limited to recycling on board; it is about research and incubating programmes while working with local entrepreneurs and communities. 

“We have been to 30 countries so far. There are many initiatives, solutions, entrepreneurs, and changemakers around the world but they are not connected to each other. They are struggling on their own to find solutions. Our job is to make them connect, document all this knowledge and share it worldwide,” he adds.  

The 40-metre vessel is a work of art in itself: divided into 10 spaces complete with analysis laboratories, recycling workshops, display areas, pyrolysis zones and training rooms, it is nothing short of a research facility on water. With a 20-member crew, of which nine are professional sailors, the vessel has been home to researchers, engineers, activists and entrepreneurs for the last two-and-a-half years.

A tour, led by stopover manager Morgane Kerdoncuff, begins at its very heart: the recycling workshop. “This area is dedicated to transforming plastic waste directly into useful products. The first step is to segregate plastic by type. We have several machines that we built here on the ship, to transform the ship itself into a recycling factory,” says Morgane. The next step, after sorting, is to shred hard plastic and soft plastic into flakes using shredders. Then, the extruder melts the flakes into a chewing gum-like paste, which in turn can be moulded into usable products like lumber, tiles and other building material. 

“With this kind of lumber, a good alternative to wood, you can build furniture, barriers, decking, bins and tiles for pavements. This is how we give value to plastic waste in order to empower local communities to develop micro-recycling factories,” says Morgane. The workshop is also home to the many prototypes that were made onboard and discovered on their journey: think colourful soap dishes, hammers, building tiles, coconut shell bowls and chairs, tables and furniture that the crew use.