The Ocean Legacy Foundation, a Canadian nonprofit organization that develops and implements worldwide plastic pollution response programs with the goal to end ocean plastic pollution, announced that in partnership with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), they opened a new ocean plastic depot on April 28, 2023, at the Sechelt Landfill, located at 4901 Dusty Rd., Sechelt.
This ocean plastic diversion program received funding from the Ghost Gear Fund and Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Sechelt Ocean Plastic Depot will accept materials from shoreline cleanup efforts by the local community, providing essential infrastructure to divert these plastic resources from landfills and reduce ocean pollution.
“Ocean Legacy is excited to launch another ocean plastic collection depot in British Columbia," said executive director Chloé Dubois of the Ocean Legacy Foundation. "This new depot provides an easy and free location for community members to drop off marine plastic debris, and help reduce the pollution in our coastal communities. It is estimated that the Sechelt Ocean Plastic Depot will be at full capacity by 2025; however, there is hope that this new ocean plastic depot can assist in prolonging the landfill’s intake capabilities.”
“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Ocean Legacy to ensure that materials destined for our landfill can instead be utilized as a resource elsewhere,” said superintendent of solid waste operations at Sunshine Coast Regional District Corrina Suveges. “Any opportunity to reorganize waste materials into a circular economy needs to be harnessed to bring us closer to a more sustainable way of living.”
The new depot is able to accept materials such as abandoned, lost, discarded fishing gear (“ALDFG”), marine debris, and equipment including netting and rope, polystyrene foam (Styrofoam), hard plastic and select buoys. Material collected at the depot is consolidated and then sent to the Ocean Legacy processing center at Steveston Harbour, BC, where it is further sorted, cleaned, and recycled.
“Currently on the Sunshine Coast, there are no options for recycling ocean plastics and dock foam,” says Marc Sole, Manager of Solid Waste Services, Sunshine Coast Regional District. “SCRD staff have been pursuing options to recycle ocean plastics and marine debris materials in order to help decrease the amount of plastic washing up on beaches, reduce our carbon footprint, and, importantly, maximize our remaining air space at the landfill”.
The Sechelt Ocean Plastic Depot will be the fifth depot of its kind in British Columbia, with others located in Powell River, Ucluelet, Cumberland, 7 Mile, and developments underway in Port Edward. The program forms part of Ocean Legacy Foundation’s national strategy in addressing plastic pollution by creating end of life solutions for ALDGF and marine plastics while developing the plastic circular economy.
