Seabound

We are committed to using clean energy to help reduce and repurpose plastics currently polluting our planet.

My team and I intend to organize environmental cleanups and build a plastic shredder to recycle these plastics and keep them out of our waterways. Our objective is to recycle 200-500kg of plastic from the natural environment by the end of the year. In the long term, we hope to add to this by building our extruder and compression oven, allowing us to create new items from recycled plastics entirely in our eco-friendly facility. Additionally, we are developing solar and wind powered ocean cleaning micro vessels that can autonomously assess and collect waste from our oceans. Our immediate actions are to help process plastics that are not accepted at traditional facilities. We plan to do this by creating a streamlined process to turn plastic into flakes, which can then be given to injection molders and extruders. Through the combination of traditional and modern technology we can help reduce the plastics plaguing our population.

Our primary objective is to reduce the plastics affecting our waterways as well as marine life that resides there. We hope to help reduce waste by also taking the plastics that other facilities won't process and recycle them. The goal is to assist in closing the tap on plastic so that plastic is being recycled and there are less new plastics clogging our oceans. Narrowing in on the impact on humans, close to 70,000 pieces of microplastic are consumed by humans each year contributing to serious illnesses such as cancer. For this reason, this is a vast problem affecting our global community, affecting millions. Our goal is to steadily work to combat this problem by tackling plastic waste by removing it from the natural environment (through the help of dedicated volunteers and our micro-vessels) and repurposing it to create new items (through our shredder facility), specifically targeting items that would otherwise never be recycled. 

The solution intends to serve the global population by reducing plastic entering waterways and being ingested by humans. We are currently starting on the west coast of North America to help reduce the waste accumulating in and around our waterways.  We aim to reduce pollution and monetize plastic to provide growth opportunities to individuals in  impoverished coastal regions around the world . The plan is to create autonomous systems that can collect and recycle waste while using renewable energy  to power our collection systems. Our objective is to reduce the mass amounts of toxic microplastics being consumed by humans. Two of the most common ways microplastics enter the human body are through drinking water and seafood. By reducing plastic in water bodies, we can help to create a better quality of life for those currently being affected by these conditions. 

Our team has conducted extensive research on the impact of plastics on humans, specifically individuals in lower income tiers as well as existing models to combat this issue. We have taken inspiration from the work of ‘Precious Plastic’ and ‘The Plastic Bank’, with their work on plastic shredders and establishing full scale recycling facilities and creating a model to serve impoverished individuals through the monetization of plastic respectively. I have worked with various environmental bodies such as the international organization ‘Oceanwise’, local non-profit ‘Birds on the Bay Society’, and various school clubs,  focusing specifically on the plastic crisis. In addition to this, we have experience in plastic processing to help us better understand the life cycle of plastic.

Plastics continue to poison our oceans, and in turn, us. Reaching a preventive stage in plastic pollution is crucial to help life on Earth to prosper. While this is the ultimate goal, we must also actively work toward reducing the waste already on our shores and in our waters. Our solution using low energy autonomous micro vessels, and energy efficient processing, allows us to create a sustainable way to give these plastics new life. With the whole world becoming more aware of the dangers of single use plastics, we are confident that once repurposed, these plastics will be a stepping stone to closing the tap on plastic production.

So far, we have built a prototype for our shredder. We have been successful in securing a grant from Oceanwise to continue expanding our project and are currently in the design for our micro-vessels that run on clean energy. 

Innovation has been a driving factor for our initiative. We are hoping to leverage existing technology in the form of plastic shredders and make them more energy efficient through the use of renewable energy sources. Our shredder can currently process a few kilograms of plastic per day. We only process one type of plastic at a time to ensure material is not sorted. Our shredder is currently only able to handle plastics that fit in an 8x6 inch area. Currently a large amount of sorting for recycling is done manually and we hope to develop our systems to create automation. As a result we can have more efficient recycling centers. Another aspect of our plastic collection system is to use solar assisted ocean cleaning aides. We are trying to leverage traditional sailing methods to propel a trawler through the water to assess and collect plastics. We will use sensors to determine wind direction and gps to help guide the vessel towards areas prone to accumulation. Due to the unpredictability of wind and tide, the vessel will have an electric motor and battery as a contingency. Our initiative tries to leverage some of the oldest principles and pair them with modern technology to help create a more sustainable future.  

Our goal is to serve close to 200 people in the next year directly. We plan to achieve this through our plans in monetization of plastic by providing individuals in impoverished regions the opportunity to remove plastic from our waterways and redeem it for essentials such as toiletries, clothing etc.

We are committed to using clean energy to help reduce and repurpose plastics currently polluting our planet. In the next year we hope to scale our fleet of ocean cleaning microvessels to atleast 5 in addition to increasing our processing capabilities by 80%.  Our goal is to reduce plastic pollution while maintaining a carbon-neutral footprint. Our one year objective is to remove and recycle 200-500 kilograms of plastics from our oceans. We hope to accomplish this using additive manufacturing, CNC machining,  sensors, and equipment powered by renewable energy. Through the help of our local community , we will coordinate shoreline cleanups to ensure new plastic does not enter our waters.

While our eventual goal is to help create preventative measures from plastics entering our waterways, we are currently working towards removing plastics from the ocean. Currently we are working toward reducing the plastic debris density on the western coastline of North America. We are committed to working on 14.1 (with specific focus on plastic debris) of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

There are various types of barriers that may hinder progress in the coming year. Financially, significant funds are required to streamline the plastic collection process, establish a full scale recycling facility and create a fleet of ocean cleaning micro-vessels. This requires a constant flow of money to fund innovation. A technical challenge would be to automate the systems to be more efficient and autonomous which is essential in order to scale the impact of the project. Considering that we plan to expand into third-world countries, a legal barrier is handling the diplomatic relations and regulations in these countries. An anticipated cultural barrier is likely to be language gaps when working with individuals in different regions in the world. We hope to overcome these barriers through resilience, innovation, and your mentorship. 

As a team consisting primarily of immigrants from a third world country, we witnessed first hand copious amounts of waste littered on streets and waterways. Streams and wells were often so polluted that the only way to access drinking water is to either own a filtration system (which the poor can’t afford) or purchase a single use bottle (which leads to further pollution). Remembering those streets and rivers is what motivates me to aspire to help solve these issues. As a Sikh, I was taught from an early age that our core tenet is Seva(Selfless Service). This is a value I hope to continue to develop throughout my lifetime and why I am so passionate about helping our planet. Our team has a very diverse and complementary skillset. During my time with OceanWise, I learnt and experienced how to monitor and improve ocean health. Having spent a lot of time working with plastic in various capacities, our partners have had the chance to study how harmful plastic is to humans, animals, and the environment. One of our managing partners has significant experience working in engineering settings and will be leading the design and construction of our future systems. We are open to feedback to help us create a lasting impact on our environment. Having seen mass wastage firsthand, and being able to relate to the plight of impoverished individuals, our team has developed motivation to serve and support underprivileged communities. 

We are currently working alongside the international organization ‘Oceanwise’. The team leads for their Ocean Bridge program have been essential in providing mentorship in key areas relating to the ocean and areas regarding microplastics, and impact of plastics in the environment.