the SEA PLASTICs project
A student commitment against ocean plastic pollution
The association
SEA Plastics in an association created in 2016 by 3 students from AgroParisTech. Passionate about the sea and sailing, S imon, E rnest and A ymeric then had the idea of using 6 months of their lives, and their scientific background, to study and defend this environment which is so precious to them: the sea. .
Since then, every year, 4 to 5 students follow in their footsteps.
Goals
Studies on micro-plastic pollution are multiplying. However, scientific expeditions to acquire samples are expensive and time-consuming. It is in this context that SEA Plastics is committed to contributing to scientific research while raising awareness in each port of the general public to reduce plastic pollution.
SEA Plastics: an association run by students
SEA Plastics is a 1901 law association created in 2016 by 3 students from AgroParisTech , a major engineering school in life and environmental sciences. Passionate about the sea and sailing, Simon, Ernest and Aymeric then had the idea of using 6 months of their lives, and their scientific background, to study and defend this environment which is so precious to them: the sea. then create this association, decide to study plastics and focus on the Mediterranean Sea. They then buy The lab , a boat they fit out to carry out scientific analyses. In 2017, they then tested the first protocols during a first expedition .
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In 2018, a new team took over the reins of the association to set up a second expedition . 100% female, this team aimed to consolidate the scientific, communication and logistical aspects of the association. An annual organization is set up: the "sea" team is made up of students who go on an expedition during their gap year (between Bac+4 and Bac+5), and the "land" team _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ is the relay of the "sea" team during the expedition. The following year, the old land team becomes the new "sea" team, which ensures annual turnover and makes the project sustainable . Following this operation, 5 expeditions have taken place to date.
The SEA Plastics 2022 expedition is getting ready and new members are getting ready to go to sea, from March to July 2022!
4 to 5 months of sailing expedition: a sporting challenge
Our expeditions take place in sailboats since the creation of the association.
We initially owned a 15m long ketch, Le Labo , used for the 2017 and 2018 expeditions . Although a number of repairs and adjustments had to be made to make it more functional for scientific analysis, this famous two-master was the pride of SEA Plastics!
We have dedicated a whole logbook to the Lab , so don't hesitate to take a look around to see what work has been done to restore it!
Unfortunately, technical problems too serious to be repaired occurred at the start of the 2019 expedition and we were forced to sell Le Labo . Since then, we have continued our scientific missions aboard rental boats, or made available on a voluntary basis by individuals.
In 2020, shipping took place aboard the Dune , a 1962 wooden sailboat from the Italian manufacturer Sangermani ( virtual tour)
The SEA Plastics 2021 expedition took place aboard a catamaran, the Impossible .
In 2022, we will board an Amel Meltem , a 53-foot ketch made available by its owner Thierry, who will be our skipper for this new edition.
Invisible pollution in the Mediterranean
On the occasion of COP21, many scientists sounded the alarm about the health of our oceans. Human activities dump more than 20 billion tons of waste into the oceans, including 9 million tons of plastic .
The problem of plastic pollution comes from the fact that plastic is very resistant . For example, PET (Polyethylene terephthalate), which makes up water and soda bottles, and other food packaging, has a chemical structure that is particularly difficult for living beings to degrade.
Structural formula of PET
It is estimated that the lifespan of a plastic bottle in nature is 100 to 1000 years. As a result, plastic waste is accumulating, especially in the Mediterranean. This plastic can be found floating offshore, but most of this pollution is invisible, microscopic .
During its stay at sea, the plastic decomposes in the form of microparticles called microplastics . For some invisible to the naked eye, they are present in certain places in the Mediterranean in the same quantity as plankton. The latter ingest them by filtering the water, and therefore contaminate the entire food chain. This myriad of small fragments poses a problem because they are ingested by different animals (fish, molluscs, turtles, seabirds, etc.) and since they are not digested, they tend to accumulate in their organisms. The entire food chain is therefore affected , and those known as "top predators" (which have no predators, here cetaceans and sharks) tend to accumulate the most plastics: this is the phenomenon of bio-accumulation . As, moreover, microplastics have the property of fixing chemical pollutants, they poison these animals, and consequently possibly humans via the food chain .
Marine food chain contaminated by plastic: illustration of bio-accumulation
A quasi-closed sea, the western Mediterranean is a privileged area for the accumulation of microplastics. Surveys have recently found a concentration of microplastics floating in Mediterranean surface waters equivalent to those in large ocean gyres (Cózar et al., 2015). But it is also a veritable sanctuary of biodiversity : 60% of Mediterranean species are endemic and 20% of them are on the verge of extinction. To preserve it, a questioning of the life cycle of plastic products is necessary !
A circular economy based on environmental monitoring
Currently, the plastic development model is based on a three-step linear chain : extract the raw material (oil), manufacture, dispose .
According to the results of the analysis reports presented by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation during the World Economic Forum in Davos (2016 and 2017), a “ New Plastics Economy_cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b- 136bad5cf58d_» is possible based on a circular economy. According to ADEME, the circular economy is defined as an economic system of exchange and production which, at all stages of the life of products (goods and services), aims to increase the efficiency of the use of resources and to reduce the impact on the environment .
> Check out the reports from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation! <
These reports were the subject of a seminar at the Ministry of the Economy in Paris on December 13, 2017, to which we went to meet the various actors involved in the plastics value chain. The diagram of the new plastic economy was presented there and takes into account 3 major stages :
Create an end-of-life plastics economy (recycling, reuse, other materials)
Drastically reduce plastic leakage into natural systems and other negative externalities
Decoupling the production of plastics from fossil raw materials
This model currently seems to neglect the importance of environmental monitoring .
Indeed, how to quantitatively measure environmental leaks without annual monitoring in the field ? How to assess the impact of new materials on ecosystems without a scientific analysis conducted by specialist laboratories ? Finally, how to reach consumers about this pollution to stop leaks at their source ?
By integrating environmental monitoring into the proposed scheme, we obtain the following :
In order to implement a well-thought-out circular economy at all levels, our association has chosen to get involved in environmental monitoring by organizing a scientific expedition to the Mediterranean each year to study the impact of plastic waste on biodiversity.
Contribution to scientific research
OUR GOALS
Studies on micro-plastic pollution are multiplying. However, scientific expeditions to acquire samples are expensive and time-consuming. It is in this context that SEA Plastics is committed to contributing to scientific research by organizing a sailing expedition to collect useful data from research laboratories working on the issue of plastic pollution . Members of SEA Plastics also conduct their own scientific experiments.
> Discover our scientific programs <
For each of the areas of research addressed, we work with specialized laboratories with whom we develop study protocols. We share data and samples taken at sea with them so that analyzes can be carried out by specialists for certain data, or by ourselves when the necessary analyzes correspond to our scientific background. We are looking for new scientific partners every year to expand our field of study!
> Discover our scientific partners <
This approach provides additional data to those collected by other expeditions such as TARA, MED Expedition or 7th Continent Expedition.
During the expedition at sea, our boat will be equipped with a GPS beacon to follow our movements by remote sensing . Our course will be determined through mathematical modeling of areas of high plastic concentration which includes sea currents, temperature, wind direction and strength, plastic waste density...
Raising public awareness
80% of plastic waste found at sea comes from the continents.
In an attempt to reduce pollution "at the source", we want to meet the public to raise consumer awareness of the challenges of plastic pollution, learn how to properly sort waste, and even change their habits for a more respectful way of life. of the environment.
During our expeditions, we give conferences in the ports of call to meet the local population and tell how the expedition is going. We also participate in international scientific and citizen events .
As we owe it to ourselves to be exemplary in terms of ecological waste management, we have launched the “zero waste on board!” challenge . The objective is to adopt a more ecological way of life on the boat to produce as little waste as possible. You will find all our tips in the crew logbook.
Raise school awareness
We also take advantage of stopovers to intervene in kindergartens, primary schools, colleges and high schools to raise awareness among school children about the problem of plastic pollution and show them that it is possible to adopt eco-responsible actions and become an actor against this contamination.
For the youngest, follow the adventures of our expedition by subscribing to the flight logs of Isa the seagull , the mascot of SEA Plastics!
Discover the objectives of the 2022 expedition
