Circular Economy: How to give Marine Plastic Litter a Sustainable Value A Case Study on the Upcycling of Fishing Nets

Plastic pollution has been on everyone’s lips, but not enough actions have been taken to prevent more plastic from entering the ocean. This thesis investigates the main effects of ocean plastic on the environment and how a circular economy approach can help tackle this problem. It aims to answer the question in what ways circular economy could give marine plastic litter a sustainable value. For this, interviews with several companies revealed various business models contributing to a circular plastics economy. In the end, there is no single solution for the problem but rather various approaches. It is not sufficient to simply recycle all plastics. Much rather, it needs to be a holistic approach including the elimination of plastic in the first place, finding alternative materials, recycling what is left, and trying to keep all technical nutrients in the loop so that nothing will end up in the environment. To succeed, (marine) plastic pollution needs to be approached with a global mindset, and all stakeholders need to be involved: customers, manufacturers, NGOs, as well as governments.