Every day, almost 5,000 fishermen collect the rubbish caught in their nets and hand it over to the Ecoalf Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that turns it into raw material for fabrics. The initiative is linked to Ecoalf, a Spanish fashion brand founded in 2009 that converts marine waste and discarded materials into clothing through a circular supply chain.
The Upcycling the Oceans programme, launched in 2015, has already recovered more than 2,000 tonnes of marine waste, equivalent to around 100 lorryloads. It involves some 80 ports and has expanded to France, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Thailand. Tony Beltrán, a fisherman from Gandía, south of Valencia, says plastic makes up around 80% of what fishermen bring up.
About 5% of the recovered waste is plastic bottles, which are shredded into flakes and then pellets before becoming yarn. Other fibres come from discarded fishing nets, tyres and recycled cotton and wool, and the fabrics are made at the company’s headquarters in Madrid. According to creative director Julie Sohn, the garments are designed to be fully disassembled and to return to the circular economy.
The foundation’s director, Andrea Ruzo, wants to bring together 10,000 fishermen across the Mediterranean to help clean up the sea. More than 12 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans every year.
