The beach looks a bit like a garbage dump. A fisherman has left the debris-covered beach behind and wanders up to the knees in the shallow water of the Java sea. Small silver-scaled fish over circles around his feet, scurrying to a half-sunken shopping bag, and swim in the direction of some into the open waters of plastic drifting bottles. The fisherman trudges a few steps further on the colorful plastic packaging and finally stops on a less gloomy place. The hope is not entirely lost, that his Angel is more than just a waste to pull out.
Alexander Davydov
editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
F. A. Z.
Because it is in Indonesia, more than abundant. Over three million tons of plastic waste on the island state produces according to a report by the Nexus3 Foundation annually. About a third of it ends up in the ocean. The plastic residues can contaminate but the waters, poison plants, animals and humans. The Mainz-based Start-up “Gotbag” has now adopted the ambitious goal of the pollution of the Indonesian coast, at least a little curb and the garbage something meaningful to employ. From a part of the waste is made backpacks. The products of the company are according to his own statement, the first in the world to be made almost entirely from ocean plastic.
Black with a simple but functional Design the 23 litre backpack from Gotbag presents itself as a reliable universal companion for hikes, Bicycle tours and as a travel bag for longer trips. Waterproof plastic satchel also, but above all, eco-friendly produced.
The idea of founder Benjamin Mandos 2015 came during a trip through the Alps. “Together with a friend I had thought to myself, what could make, if we have something Sustainable, something long-Lasting.” The choice fell on the production of a backpack made from recycled plastic. “We wanted to create an everyday product that the customer can use versatile.”
As a trained camera man, Mandos came up with projects for sustainability in touch. The Passion for the sport of sailing brought the thirty-two years, finally, the decisive impulse to develop a product that the protection of water for the Good comes. “We knew that you can gain from PE Material yarn, and that in Indonesia in the sea and the rivers, much of it floats around. Anyone who has seen these contamination, know how much the sight of burning in the retina.“
In Indonesia, the businessman built a network of some 1500 fishermen, which are in place on the plastic catch is going. Be paid to the domestic helper per kilogram of plastic, you get out of the sea. Because for many, the fishing no longer pays off, the plastic catch under Mandos to be an important financial support.
not can use Mandos for its production only Pet, a selection on the boats he wants, but still. The for him useless in the proportion of plastic waste is not to remain in the sea. Only on Land, the plastic is sorted according to PE, which is elaborately cleaned and then processed into flakes. From these small beads that will eventually be processed into valuable yarn is created. The Rest of the waste Controls to customers in the area of energy supply or to the down-Cycling: “for Us, it is important that all types of Plastic are included in the structures, and eventually on a landfill, to land the next time it rains again in the water.”
