Marine plastic waste is a huge problem, but non-profit the Ocean Cleanup has been taking a bite out of floating trash in oceans and rivers for the last few years. Now pop-rock band Coldplay is about to use some of that waste for a limited special edition of its forthcoming album.
The idea for the Ocean Cleanup began in 2012, when a student from Delft University of Technology presented an idea for tackling the huge plastic problem in our oceans. Boyan Slat's vision became reality in 2019 when the first floating waste was collected by prototype System 001/B from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and shipped to shore for processing. A pair of sunglasses fashioned from this waste went up for sale the following year.
Subsequent missions have started to put a dent in the monstrous Patch, but the non-profit has also been trying to stop the flow of waste plastic at its source. The first Interceptor barges were deployed in Asian rivers in late 2019, each deploying a boom across a section of waterway to trap trash before it made it into the ocean.
More deployments followed, and then Coldplay got onboard with the project in 2021 by funding a new vessel dubbed the Neon Moon 1 for deployment in Malaysia.
"Without action, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050, which is why the Ocean Cleanup’s work is so vital," said the award-winning pop-rock group at the time. "We’re proud to sponsor Interceptor 005 – aka Neon Moon 1 – which will catch thousands of tons of waste before it reaches the ocean."
A second Coldplay-sponsored Interceptor was deployed in Indonesia last year, and now the partnership has joined forces to produce a limited release album made using waste plastic recovered from the Rio Las Vacas river in Guatemala by the Ocean Cleanup.
A number of Notebook Edition units of the band's upcoming Moon Music LP are being made available, which will be pressed using a blend of 70% intercepted plastic river waste and 30% recycled plastic bottles and "other sources" instead of vinyl.
As we noted in our coverage of bio-based EcoVinyl earlier this year, global production of some 180 million standard-grade vinyl albums in 2023 is reported to translate to around 30,000 tonnes of PVC being used in their manufacture. At the end of their disc-spinning lives, these once-treasured records could end up contributing to our waste problems.
The Ocean Cleanup and Coldplay worked together on quality control and testing, along with manufacturers Biosfera GT, Compuestos y Derivados S.A., Morssinkhof and Sonopress. The Notebook Edition will ship with a 28-page hardback that includes lyrics, hand-drawn illustrations and more. A special CD produced using 90% recycled polycarbonates is also included in the package. It's expected to go on sale from October, but can be pre-ordered now for US$39.99. The video below has more.
Source: The Ocean Cleanup