Environment

Floating park built using recycled waste plastic opens in Rotterdam

Floating park built using recycled waste plastic opens in Rotterdam
The Recycled Park comprises 28 floating blocks made from recovered waste plastic
The Recycled Park comprises 28 floating blocks made from recovered waste plastic
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The Recycled Park is made up of 28 hexagonal blocks made from waste plastic recovered from Rotterdam port and rivers
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The Recycled Park is made up of 28 hexagonal blocks made from waste plastic recovered from Rotterdam port and rivers
The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
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The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
Rendering of how the Recycled Park was expected to look
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Rendering of how the Recycled Park was expected to look
Volunteers collected waste plastic from riverbanks for recycling into hexagonal blocks that make up the Recycled Park
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Volunteers collected waste plastic from riverbanks for recycling into hexagonal blocks that make up the Recycled Park
Visitors celebrate the opening of Rotterdam's Recycled Park on July 4, 2018
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Visitors celebrate the opening of Rotterdam's Recycled Park on July 4, 2018
The Recycle Park's floating blocks are made from waste plastic recovered from the port and rivers
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The Recycle Park's floating blocks are made from waste plastic recovered from the port and rivers
The Recycled Park's floating blocks were bolted together in a visually-pleasing pattern and moored in the harbor before being planted with greenery
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The Recycled Park's floating blocks were bolted together in a visually-pleasing pattern and moored in the harbor before being planted with greenery
The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
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The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
Visitors celebrate the opening of Rotterdam's Recycled Park on July 4, 2018
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Visitors celebrate the opening of Rotterdam's Recycled Park on July 4, 2018
The Recycled Park will not only contribute to the greening of the city, but will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna
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The Recycled Park will not only contribute to the greening of the city, but will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna
The Recycled Park comprises 28 floating blocks made from recovered waste plastic
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The Recycled Park comprises 28 floating blocks made from recovered waste plastic
The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
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The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
View gallery - 12 images

As the Ocean Cleanup Project readies its mighty floating barriers for collecting waste plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a similarly green project much closer to its home has opened a floating park in Rotterdam's harbor. The Recycled Park features connected hexagonal blocks made from waste plastic.

The Recycled Park has been almost 5 years in the making – designing, recovering plastic and working it into something entirely new, raising funds and bringing the final pieces of the project puzzle together for the grand opening of the 140 m2 (1,500 ft2) installation on July 4.

The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline
The recycled plastic blocks that make up the Recycled Park will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna above and below the waterline

Each of the park's 28 hexagonal blocks has been made from plastic waste recovered from the port and rivers, with Rotterdam serving as host to three strategically-placed passive plastic litter traps and scores of volunteers combing river banks for plastic marine waste. The idea being to stop plastic pollution before it gets to the seas or oceans.

The floating blocks were bolted together in a visually-pleasing pattern and moored in the harbor before being planted with greenery, or home to benches for visitors. The Recycled Park will not only contribute to the greening of the city, but will serve as a habitat for micro and macro fauna such as snails, flatworms, larvae, beetles, fish and birds. The video below has more on the project.

Sources: Recycled Park project, Recycled Island Foundation

Recycled Park first 140m2 open!

View gallery - 12 images
1 comment
1 comment
David F
What about the probable leaching of estrogen-like chemicals from the plastic into the water, which are known disruptors of endocrine systems in marine organisms.